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AARON  BURR, 


His  PERSONAL  AND  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  WITH 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON  AND  ALEX 
ANDER  HAMILTON. 


"Nothing  is  so  desirable  to  me,  as  that  after  mankind  shall  have  been 
abused  by  such  gross  falsehoods  as  to  events  while  passing,  their  minds 
should  at  length  be  set  to  rights  by  genuine  truth."— THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


BY 


ISAAC  JENKINSON 


RICHMOND,  IND.. 

M.   CULLATON   &   CO.,    BOOK  AND  JOB   PRINTERS. 
1902. 


c 


T^  Q  ~\ 


Copyright,  1902,  by  ISAAC  JENKINSON. 


PREFACE. 


This  is  not  a  biography  of  Burr;  it  simply  deals 
with  those  personal  and  political  antagonisms  which 
assailed  him  and  which  left  him  with  a  ruined  repu 
tation.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  inquire 
into  the  causes  which  led  to  these,  the  motives  which 
prompted,  and  the  results  which  followed  them.  For 
nearly  a  hundred  years  the  name  of  Aaron  Burr  has 
been  under  ban  ;  three  generations  have  been  taught 
to  believe  he  was  the  incarnation  of  wickedness. 
If  this  reputation  be  undeserved,  if  it  be  founded  in 
prejudice  and  not  in  truth,  it  would  seem  that  the. 
fact  ought  to  be  made  known.  It  is  the  purpose  of 
this  work  to  give  the  facts  about  Burr  and  his 
assailants,  and  leave  a  fair-minded  people  to  pass 
their  own  judgment  upon  them. 

In  presenting  Burr's  case  it  is  necessary  to  speak 
of  others  —  the  men  who  persecuted  and  ruined  him. 
But  it  is  not  necessary,  nor  is  it  the  intention,  to 
assail  their  general  character;  they  were  men  of 
distinction,  greatly  and  justly  respected  while  living, 
and  deservedly  honored  in  memory.  But  they  would 
have  been  more  than  mortal  if  they  had  been  infal 
lible.  They  had  great  virtues,  but  they  had  great 

M199919 


iv  PREFACE. 

faults,  and  we  feel  it  to  be  unfortunate  that,  in  this 
connection,  we  are  compelled  to  deal  only  with  their 
worst  traits  of  character.  If  in  the  vindication  of 
Aaron  Burr  it  becomes  necessary  to  arraign  the 
conduct  of  these  men,  it  is  only  because  their  per 
sistent  persecution  has  created  the  necessity.  If  the 
facts  condemn  them,  it  must  be  remembered,  they 
were  of  their  own  creation. 

Aaron  Burr  has  the  saddest  of  all  histories  —  the 
victim  of  revengeful  power,  and  of  studied  and  per 
sistent  duplicity.  A  man  whose  public  life  was  with 
out  a  stain,  who  never  betrayed  a  friend,  or  spoke  ill 
even  of  an  enemy;  a  man  of  the  highest  ambition, 
but  who  put  aside  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States,  rather  than  do  a  wrong  to  his  party  chief 
or  disappoint  the  wishes  of  the  people — has  been 
for  a  whole  century  denounced  as  a  man  without 
integrity  or  sound  principle.  A  man  who  gave 
four  years  of  his  early  manhood  in  fighting  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  republic  —  has,  upon  mere  clamor 
and  prejudice,  for  three  generations,  been  stigmatized 
as  a  traitor.  If  these  be  facts,  is  it  not  time  they 
were  known  ?  It  is  to  give  these  facts  that  this 
volume  has  been  written. 

RICHMOND,  IND.,  February,  1902. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON. 

Jefferson  — His  Early  Life  — His  Political  Creed  — His  Enthusiasm  -  His 
Credulity  — His  Inconsistency  — Aaron  Burr  — His  Ancestry  — Ex 
pedition  to  Quebec— Rescues  Montgomery's  Eemains  — Joins  Put 
nam—Commands  a  Brigade—  At  West  Point  — On  the  Lines  -  Mar 
riage  —  Domestic  Life  —  Hamilton  —  Captain  of  Artillery— Washing 
ton's  Military  Secretary  — Burr  and  Hamilton  as  Lawyers 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

JEFFERSON  AND  HAMILTON. 

Burr's  Election  to  the  Senate  —  His  Popularity  with  his  Party  -  In 
Washington's  Cabinet  —  A  Mistake  —  Constant  Contention  —  The 
President's  Distress  -  His  Difficulty  in  Reorganizing  the  Cabinet  — 
Jefferson's  Programme  — Assails  the  Administration  —  Hamilton  — 
Some  of  his  Characteristics  —  Cause  of  his  Mistakes 7T  33 

CHAPTER  III. 

BURR  AND  HAMILTON. 

The  New  York  Election  —  Burr's  Careful  Preparation  —  Burr's  Success 
—  Chagrin  of  Hamilton  —His  Dishonest  Proposal  to  Gov.  Jay,  who 
Rejects  the  Proposition  —  Jefferson  and  Burr  have  Equal  Vote  — 
Election  Referred  to  Congress  —  Burr's  Refusal  to  Treat  with  Feder 
alists—Jefferson  Elected  President  — Burr  Vice-President 55 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HAMILTON  AND  JEFFERSON. 

Secret  Detraction  of  Burr— Hamilton's  Method  — Judge  Marshall's 
Reply  —  Hamilton's  Duplicity-  Hamilton's  Attack  on  Adams  — 
Intrigue  Against  Adams  — The  Three  Ministers  —  Disastrous  Re 
sults—Loss  of  Popularity  —  The  Virginia  Junto— Conspiracy 
Against  Burr  —  Clinton  and  Hamilton  join  Jefferson  — Correspond 
ence— Burr  and  the  Cabinet—  Jefferson's  Friendliness  — Compli 
ments  Burr _  77 


yi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

Charges  Against  Burr  — The  Election  Intrigue,  1801  — Burr's  Refusal  to 
Treat  With  Federalists  — Jefferson  Buys  His  Election  —  Depositions 
of  Bayard  and  Smith  — A  Scheme  to  Elect  Burr  — He  Rejects  It  — 
Bayard's  Displeasure  — Jefferson's  Trouble  in  Making  Payment  — 
Revolt  of  His  Friends  in  Philadelphia  — Importing  a  Post-master  to 
New  York --  99 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  DUEL. 

The  Election  in  New  York  — An  Unequal  Contest  — The  Conspiracy 
Prevails  — Hamilton's  Selfish  Action  —  Correspondence  Between 
Burr  and  Hamilton  — The  Challenge  — The  Combat  — Hamilton 
Fatally  Hurt  — Ruf us  King's  Explanation —  Did  Not  Advise  Ham 
ilton  to  Accept  the  Challenge  —  Burr  Justified 12(i 

CHAPTER  VII. 

BURR  RETIRES  FROM  PUBLIC  LIFE. 

Kind  Words  to  Family  and  Friends  -  Mementos  for  All  — Returns  to 
the  Senate  —  Presides  at  the  Chace  Impeachment  Trial  —  Bids  Fare 
well  to  the  Senate  — His  Address  to  the  Senators  — Its  Thrilling 
Effect  — Tears  from  the  Members  — His  Visit  to  the  Western  Coun 
try—His  Enthusiastic  Welcome  — The  First  Blow  from  the  Man  in 
Power 155 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 

The  Message  Arraigning  Burr—  The  Investigation  by  Jackson  —  Bissell's 
Report  —  Message  to  Congress  —  Burr's  Arrest  —  Defended  by  Clay  — 
Acquitted  —  Clay's  Letter  —  The  Proclamation  —  Burr  Starts  Down 
the  River— Sixty  Unarmed  Men  with  Him  — Efforts  to  Create 
Clamor  and  Prejudice  Against  Burr  —  Special  Secret  Agent  Sent  to 
Kentucky  and  Ohio •-  173 

CHAPTER  IX. 

TERRORIZING  THE  PEOPLE. 

Wilkinson's  Work  at  New  Orleans  —  Creating  Excitement  and  Clamor- 
Trampling  upon  the  Constitution  and  the  Law  — Defying  the 
Courts  — Making  Military  Arrests  —  Arresting  and  Deporting  Inno 
cent  Men  —  Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus  by  the  Senate  — A  Sti 
pendiary  of  Spain  —  Randolph  Denounces  Wilkinson  — Jefferson  De 
ceives  Bellman  —  Clark's  Statement 194 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER  X. 

BURR'S  REAL  INTENTION. 

The  Navy  Department's  Order  —  The  Expedition  Arrested  —  Grand  Jury 
Refuses  an  Indictment  — The  Reason  Why  — The  Scheme  to  Liber 
ate  South  America  —  Burr's  Project  —  Letter  to  Smith  —  Jackson  and 
Adair  —  Jefferson  on  Newspapers 218 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  INDICTMKNT. 

The  Examination  —  Committed  for  Trial  —  Bail  Required  and  Given  — 
Burr's  Speech  —  Case  Called  for  Trial  —  The  Counsel  Engaged  —  The 
Indictment  —  Burr's  Danger  —  Charged  with  Treason  —  Condemned 
by  Clamor—  Court  Takes  Recess  — Burr  in  Penitentiary  —  Great 
Numbers  Visit  Him  —  Washington  Irving  —  His  Letters 250 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

A  Jury  of  Enemies  —  Subpoena  for  Jefferson  —  The  President  Inter 
feres  —  Public  Money  Used  —  The  Trial  Begun  —  Instruction  of 
Judge  Marshall  —  Jury  Returns  Verdict  —  Not  Guilty  —  Misde 
meanor  Trial  —  Acquittal  —  Jefferson  Angry  —  Denounces  the 
Judge  — Pursues  Burr  into  Exile 278 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EVIDENCE. 

Truxtun  —  Vindication  of  Burr  —  Expedition  Dependent  on  War  —  No 
War,  No  Conquest  —  No  Talk  of  Disunion  —  The  Cipher  Letter 
Altered  —  Wilkinson's  Perjury  —  Randolph's  Exposure  —  The  Presi 
dent's  Indorsement  —  "  On  the  Honor  of  a  Soldier  "  — Wilkinson 
Confesses  His  Guilt— His  Defense  of  Mexico  —  Claims  Enormous 
Reward  — Claim  Rejected 297 


CHAPTER.XIV. 

BLENNERHASSETT. 

An  Irishman  —  Of  Wealth  and  Good  Position  — Settles  on  an  Island  — 
Seeks  Burr's  Acquaintance  —  Offers  His  Services  — In  Any  Enter 
prise  Proposed  —Engages  in  Burr's  Land  Settlement  —  Is  Indicted 
for  Treason  —  Not  Prosecuted  —  Failure  in  Business  —  Dies  in  Pov 
erty  —  Mrs.  Blennerhassett  —  Her  Death  . .  . .  320 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

Returns  to  His  Profession  —  Does  a  Large  General  Business  —  His  Daugh 
ter's  Death  —  His  Great  Grief  —  Has  Many  Friends,  but  Avoids  Gen 
eral  Society  — His  Religious  Views  — His  Moials  — His  Correspond 
ence—His  Illness  — His  Death  and  Burial 343 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  SUMMARY. 

The  Conspiracy  Against  Burr  — Burr's  Political  Life  — His  Popularity  — 
Refuses  to  Compete  with  Jefferson  —  His  Letter  to  General  Smith 

—  Hamilton  Proposes  to  Corrupt  Jefferson  —  His  Opposition  to  Burr 

—  The  Agreement  Between  Bayard  and  Jefferson  —  Burr's  Integrity- 
Jefferson's  Revenge  —  Wilkinson's  Treachery  —  Burr's  Fatal  Pride 

—  His  Friends. 1 367 


CHAPTER  I. 


JEFFERSON  —  BURR  —  HAMILTON. 


Jefferson  — His  Early  Life  — His  Political  Creed  — His  Enthusiasm— His 
Credulity  —  His  Inconsistency  —  Aaron  Burr  —  His  Ancestry  —  Ex 
pedition  to  Quebec —  Rescues  Montgomery's  Remains  —  Joins  Put 
nam —  Commands  a  Brigade —  At  West  Point  —  On  the  Lines  —  Mar 
riage —  Domestic  Life  —  Hamilton —  Captain  of  Artillery— Washing 
ton's  Military  Secretary  —  Burrand  Hamilton  as  Lawyers. 


The  early  Eepublican  party  of  this  country  was 
fortunate  in  the  possession  of  two  leaders,  of  directly 
opposite  qualities,  but  united  presenting  every  ele 
ment  necessary  for  successful  party  construction. 
These  were  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr.  Jef 
ferson  was  the  elder  by  thirteen  years,  and  had 
reached  maturity  in  time  to  take  an  active  part  in 
the  opening  scenes  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
He  belonged  to  one  of  the  first  families  of  Virginia, 
and  entered  public  life  at  an  early  age.  He  was  tall 
and  muscular,  over  six  feet  in  height,  long  limbed 
and  loose  jointed,  hair  almost  red,  clear  complexion 
and  blue  eyes.  His  dress  was  plain,  almost  to  affecta 
tion.  His  manners  were  neither  polished  nor  impos 
ing,  but  relieved  by  a  pleasing  and  friendly  address. 


10  JEFFERSON-HUKIl-HAMILTON. 

He  was  a  man  of  opinions,  of  ideas,  of  broad  and 
liberal  views  within  the  range  of  his  mental  vision, 
but,  like  most  reformers,  that  vision  was  contracted. 
It  was  fixed  upon  one  purpose,  in  the  accomplishment 
of  which  he  was  an  enthusiast.  He  fully  believed 
he  had  been  called  to  a  mission,  to  become  the 
founder  of  a  creed,  the  apostle  of  liberty.  To  this 
end  everything  was  of  importance,  all  else  was  unim 
portant.  He  had  no  toleration  for  opposition,  and 
scarcely  any  for  co-operation.  His  dislikes  were 
intense,  and  he  regarded  no  means  unjustifiable  in 
opposing  or  punishing  an  enemy,  and  all  were  enemies 
who  questioned  his  political  views,  or  stood  in  the 
way  of  his  political  advancement.  He  sincerely 
hated  the  Federalists  and  everything  they  did.  He 
was  unsparing  in  his  abuse  of  the  leaders  of  that 
party  for  aping  British  manners  and  customs. 
Though  a  member  of  Washington's  cabinet,  he 
opposed  almost  every  measure  of  administration, 
and  encouraged  his  friends  to  bitterly  fight  it  on 
pretexts  totally  untenable,  and  sometimes  puerile 
and  factious. 

Hamilton's  financial  system,  the  wisdom  of  which 
time  has  fully  demonstrated,  was  opposed  by  Jefferson 
with  great  bitterness.  He  argued  against  the  pay 
ment  of  the  government  scrip  in  full,  because  as  the 
\ .  I  holders  had  bought  it  at  a  discount,  they  should  only 
be  paid  what  it  cost  them,  thus  repudiating  a  portion 
of  the  public  debt,  and  breaking  faith  with  the  public 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  11 

creditors.  He  objected  to  the  assumption  of  the 
States'  debts,  contracted  for  the  public  defense,  because 
they  had,  some  of  them,  been  injudiciously  made. 
This  opposition  was  not  only  unwise,  but  mischievous 
and  dangerous  in  the  highest  degree  to  a  government 
then  only  upon  trial,  and  the  failure  of  which  might 
have  destroyed  all  hope  of  a  united  republic.  He 
was  a  secessionist,  and  declared  that  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws  were  infractions  of  the  constitution, 
which  authorized  the  legislatures  of  the  States  to 
declare  them  null  and  void,  to  resist  their  enforce 
ment  with  physical  force,  "  and  to  secede  from  the 
Union  rather  than  submit  to  them."  He  was  the 
author  of  nullification,  as  expressed  in  the  Kentucky 
resolutions,  which  were  drawn  by  his  hand. 

Jefferson's  political  creed  consisted  of  two  prin 
ciples —  individual  freedom  and  State  rights.  He 
was,  in  all  its  essential  elements,  a  democrat,  a  be 
liever  in  self-government.  He  was  for  giving  the 
people  all  power,  and  believed  that  government,  in 
all  things,  should  be  controlled  by  their  will.  He 
advocated  a  weak  government  —  that  is,  he  believed 
a  government  which  exercised  the  least  power  was 
the  best.  His  reasoning  would  almost  reach  the 
conclusion  that  he  was  opposed  to  all  government. 
His  dislike  of  the  Federal  government  was  based  on 
his  dislike  of  power  in  itself;  he  believed  that  power 
is  always  tyrannical.  He  objected  to  the  constitu 
tion  because  it  created  a  president,  who  was  "a  bad 


12  JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTOX. 

edition  of  a  Polish  king,"  a  sort  of  elective  monarch. 
His  doctrine  of  State  rights  rested  upon  his  belief 
in  State  sovereignty ;  all  of  the  power  he  permitted 
to  the  Federal  government  was  drawn  from  the 
strictest  possible  construction  of  the  specific  grants 
by  the  States.  The  idea  of  a  citizenship  extending 
to  all  the  States  of  the  Union  seemed  to  be  as  repug 
nant  to  his  sense  of  right,  as  the  idea  of  a  cosmo 
politan  citizenship  embracing  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth . 

He  believed  an  independent  judiciary  dangerous 
to  civil  liberty,  and  proposed  that  the  judiciary  de 
partment  be  made  subservient  to  the  will  of  the 
people.  He  opposed  the  creation  of  a  navy  because 
it  was  anti-republican.  He  denied  the  right  of  one 
generation  to  create  a  debt  to  be  paid  by  a  future 
generation.  His  tendency  to  exaggeration  marred 
much  that  he  said,  both  of  approval  and  condemna 
tion.  His  political  opponents  were  all  monarchists, 
seeking  to  overthrow  republican  government.  Of 
his  daily  associates  in  the  cabinet  he  has  recorded 
that  "Washington  has  not  sense  enough  to  see  that 
he  is  made  a  tool  of"  by  Hamilton.  Knox  was 
"a  babbling  fool,"  Edmund  Eandolph  was  "vacil 
lating  and  double-minded,"  and  Hamilton  the  "em 
bodiment  of  intrigue  and  villainy."  This  mental 
exaggeration  is  excused  in  Jefferson  by  one  of  his 
biographers,  on  the  ground  that,  like  all  other  re 
formers,  he  was  an  enthusiast,  and  enthusiasm  "ne- 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  13 

cessarily  heightens  the  colors  of  the  objects  upon 
which  it  glows/'  As  applied  to  Jefferson,  he  says: 
"  It  comes  from  a  concentration  of  all  thoughts,  feel 
ings,  desires,  in  short  of  the  whole  mind  and  heart, 
upon  the  one  object.  That  object  becomes  a  world 
to  him.  The  different  parcels  of  the  scheme  expand 
into  great  departments;  the  accessories  spread  out 
into  immense  provinces.  The  eye,  fixed  on  these 
things,  grows  microscopic.  Great  mountains  loom 
up  from  mole  hills  ;  awful  tempests  blow  in  zephyrs; 
a  prodigious  stoi;m  rages  in  the  teapot." 

Jefferson  seldom  or  never  engaged  in  controversy. 
At  a  time  when  the  leading  men  of  the  day  published 
pamphlets  and  filled  newspapers  with  discussions  of 
the  more  important  questions  before  the  public, 
especially  those  of  a  political  character,  Jefferson 
remained  silent.  The  defense  of  his  own  measures 
he  left  to  Madison  or  other  of  his  supporters.  The 
caustic  essays  published  by  Hamilton,  under  the 
name  of  Curtius  and  Camillus,  greatly  enraged 
Jefferson,  but  not  daring  to  reply  himself,  he  wrote 
commandingly  to  Madison  requesting  him  "  For  God's 
sake  take  up  your  pen  and  give  a  fundamental  reply 
to  Curtius  and  Camillus."  He  was  unable  to  reason 
logically,  and  this  fact  he  sometimes  admitted  and 
regretted.  Henry  J.  Raymond,  the  distinguished 
editor  of  the  New  York  Times,  in  that  portion  of  his 
diary  published  in  Scribner's  Magazine  for  November, 
1879,  relates  a  conversation  he  had  with  Daniel 


14  JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTOX. 

Webster  in  1848.  Webster  said  that  "  Jefferson  told 
him  once  that  in  very  early  life  he  resolved  to  have 
nothing  to  say  to  John  Marshall,  for  he  would  get 
him  to  admit  certain  positions  (which  he  could  not 
question),  and  then  he  would  lead  him  to  conclusions 
which  he  would  not  believe  and  which  he  could  not 
avoid.  This,  Webster  said,  was  characteristic  of  Jef 
ferson,  who  had  no  reasoning  faculty,  but  who  knew 
exactly  how  to  touch  the  popular  feeling,  and  was 
entirely  unscrupulous  in  exercising  that  skill." 

Jefferson  was  one  of  the  most  suspicious  and 
credulous  men  of  his  age.  He  insisted  that  the 
religious  sects  were  working  to  effect  a  connection 
between  church  and  State,  and  that  the  Presbyterians 
were  "  panting  to  establish  an  inquisition."  The  most 
absurd  gossip  heard  from  guests  at  his  own  table  was 
gravely  accepted  as  important  truth  to  be  remem 
bered.  He  carried  this  habit  to  a  great  length, 
though  he  condemned  it  in  others.  He  censured 
General  Lee  for  being  "dirtily"  engaged  in  sifting 
the  conversation  of  his  (Jefferson's)  table,  while  it 
was  his  own  constant  practice  to  "dirtily"  record  the 
conversation  of  his  own  guests,  especially  such 
remarks  as  might  at  sometime  be  used  to  their  injury. 

Jefferson's  best  monument  is  found  in  his  state 
papers.  Though  some  of  these  —  his  correspondence 
as  Secretary  of  State  —  he  repudiates  as  being  writ 
ten  under  the  dictation  of  Hamilton,  to  whose  views 
he  was  compelled  to  give  expression.  A  strange 


JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTOX.  1 5 

avowal,  and  showing  how  strong  was  Jefferson's 
desire  for  official  position,  that  he  would  continue 
in  office  under  such  humiliating,  not  to  say  degrad 
ing,  conditions.  His  first  inaugural  address  was  a 
masterpiece;  it  presents  the  highest  plane  of  states 
manship  ever  reached  by  Jefferson,  and  it  soars 
almost  into  eloquence.  It  is  the  most  conciliatory 
paper  ever  written  by  him.  It  was  written  to  sat 
isfy  the  Federalists,  who  had  but  recently  placed 
him  under  great  obligations  to  them.  He  wrote 
with  fluency,  if  not  with  clearness,  but  had  no  capa 
city  for  public  speaking.  It  is  said  he  never  made  a 
speech.  His  philosophical  writings  were  always 
plausible,  while  his  political  views  were  seldom 
practicable.  This  is  best  illustrated  by  his  own 
administration  of  the  government.  It  is  a  notable 
fact  that  scarcely  one  administrative  measure  was 
adopted,  during  the  eight  years  of  his  presidency, 
that  was  not  in  direct  opposition  to  his  own  avowed 
rules  of  constitutional  construction. 

The  purchase  of  Louisiana,  which  was  made  by 
Monroe  and  Livingston,  without  his  knowledge, 
was  approved  by  him  on  the  ground  of  necessity, 
though,  he  declared,  without  constitutional  author 
ity.  His  construction  of  the  constitution  forbade 
internal  improvements  by  the  general  government, 
yet  the  Cumberland  road  was  begun  and  partly 
completed  with  public  money,  and  with  his  approval. 
His  gunboat  scheme,  in  which  much  money  was 


16  JETTEK8ON-BUBB-HAMILTON. 

squandered,  and  which  proved  a  total  failure;  the 
embargo  and  non-intercourse  acts,  pet  measures  of 
his  own,  wrought  only  disaster  to  the  country  and 
ridicule  to  their  author,  and  were,  by  his  own  teach 
ings,  without  constitutional  sanction.  And  yet  these 
were  the  leading  measures  of  his  administration. 

At  the  end  of  four  years  Eepublican  principles 
were  obsolete,  and  the  government  was  mainly 
administered  on  Federal  principles.  Hamilton  never 
dreamed  of  a  government  more  powerful  or  more 
arbitrary  than  the  one  over  which  Jefferson  now 
ruled.  Never  had  the  constitution  wider  construc 
tion,  or  the  executive  greater  power  than  was 
assumed  by  Jefferson  and  exercised  in  governing  the 
territory  of  Orleans.  The  man  who,  out  of  office 
denounced  all  power,  in  office  assumed  and  exercised 
unlimited  power.  Even  Federal  measures  were 
adopted  by  Jefferson ;  the  debt,  the  bank,  the  navy, 
were  approved,  and  it  seemed  that  all  that  went 
down  with  Adams  in  1800,  rose  triumphant  with 
Jefferson  in  1804. 

Aaron  Burr,  born  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  in 
1756,  was  the  only  son  of  the  distinguished  Aaron 
Burr,  President  of  Princeton  College,  and  grandson 
of  the  still  more  distinguished  .Jonathan  Edwards. 
A  graduate  of  Princeton  at  sixteen,  a  student  of  law 
at  nineteen,  when  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  occurred, 
he  closed  his  books  and  repaired  at  once  to  head 
quarters  at  Cambridge,  arriving  only  a  few  days 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTOX.  17 

after  Washington  had  taken  command.  Volunteer 
ing  as  a  private  in  the  desperate  expedition  then 
just  starting  against  Quebec,  he  shared  in  all  the  pri 
vations  and  sufferings  of  that  famous  march,  through 
six  hundred  miles  of  unbroken  wilderness,  cheering 
and  animating  the  men  through  every  difficulty  and 
danger,  becoming,  in  fact,  the  sustaining  spirit  of 
that  fatal  expedition. 

Arriving  at  Quebec,  the  young  volunteer  was 
chosen  as  the  messenger  to  send  to  General  Mont 
gomery,  at  Montreal,  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
away,  to  announce  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  and 
to  ask  his  co-operation  in  the  contemplated  attack. 
Alone  and  in  disguise  he  traveled  the  entire  dis 
tance,  through  a  hostile  country,  continually  in  dan 
ger  of  capture  and  death.  He  reached  Montgomery 
in  safety,  and  returned  with  that  gallant  commander 
and  his  reinforcements.  Montgomery  was  so  greatly 
attracted  by  the  intrepidity  and  tact  of  the  bright- 
e}*ed  youth  that  he  immediately  appointed  him  an 
aid  on  his  own  staff,  with  the  rank, of  captain.  At 
the  desperate  and  fatal  attack  made  on  the  fortified 
heights  at  Quebec,  on  a  December  night,  in  the  midst 
of  a  snow  storm,  the  young  captain  led,  at  his  own 
request,  a  forlorn  hope  of  forty  men.  At  the  head 
of  this  force,  in  the  face  of  the  blinding  storm,  he 
climbed  the  difficult  and  dangerous  path  to  the  heights 
above. 


JEFFERSON-BURK-HAMILTOX. 

When  the  attack  was  made,  Burr,  by  the  side  of 
his  general,  with  two  other  aids,  an  orderly  sergeant 
and  a  guide,  led  the  column.  The  British  soldiers 
in  the  block-house,  taken  by  surprise,  fled  in  dis 
may.  One  soldier  turned  back  for  a  moment  to  dis 
charge  his  cannon,  loaded  with  grape-shot  and  in 
position.  This  was  perhaps  the  most  fateful  shot 
ever  made;  it  killed  the  general  and  his  entire  ad 
vance  party,  excepting  only  Burr  and  the  guide, 
and  it  lost  to  the  colonists  the  entire  province  of 
Canada.  The  column  halted,  wavered,  then  pre 
cipitately  fled,  leaving  the  young  captain  alone,  by 
the  side  of  the  dead  body  of  his  commander,  He 
would  not  leave  him  thus;  slight  and  fragile  though 
he  was,  the  heroic  boy  gathered  the  stalwart  form  of 
Montgomery  in  his  arms,  and,  staggering  through 
the  darkness  and  the  storm,  carried  the  remains 
of  his  general  beyond  the  reach  of  the  enemy's  guns. 
Such  gallant  conduct  deserved,  as  it  received,  the 
plaudits  of  the  whole  country.^ 

This  act  of  Burr's  made  So"1  strong  an  impression 
on  the  minds  of  those  who  witnessed  it,  that  it  was 
never  forgotten  by  them.  Dr.  Spring,  who  was  a 
volunteer  chaplain  with  Arnold's  expedition,  and 
was  with  Montgomery  when  the  attack  was  made, 
in  extreme  old  age  visited  his  son,  who  was  a  clergy 
man  in  New  York,  and  while  there  inquired  about 
Burr.  The  son  said  Burr  had  lost  caste,  and  ad 
vised  the  father  not  to  call  upon  him.  The  old 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  1 9 

gentleman  promptly  answered:  "My  son,  I  must 
see  Burr  before  I  leave  the  city.  I  went  through 
the  woods  with  him  under  Arnold.  I  stood  by  his 
side  on  the  plains  of  Abram,  and  I  have  not  seen 
him  since  the  morning  on  which  Montgomery  fell. 
It  was  a  heavy  snowstorm.  Montgomery  had  fallen. 
The  British  troops  were  advancing  towards  the  dead 
body;  and  little  Burr  was  hastening  from  the  fire 
of  the  enemy,  up  to  his  knees  in  snow,  with  Mont 
gomery's  body  on  his  shoulders  !  Do  you  wonder 
I  wish  to  see  him?"  The  old  friends  did  meet  and 
spent  an  evening  together. 

For  his  gallant  conduct  in  this  campaign  Burr 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  was  invited 
to  become  a  member  of  Washington's  military  fam 
ily.  Here  his  services,  like  Hamilton's,  were  those 
of  a  secretary;  he  ardently  desired  more  active 
duties;  he  longed  to  be  in  the  field  where  fighting 
was  going  on ;  the  work  of  a  secretary  was  irksome 
to  him.  Therefore  ere  long  he  resigned  his  staff 
appointment  at  headquarters,  and  joined  General 
Putnam,  then  engaged  in  the  defence  of  New  York 
city.  At  this  desertion  Washington  did  not  take 
umbrage:  he  rather  commended  the  spirit  of  the 
young  man  who  preferred  to  wield  the  sword  rather 
than  the  pen.  Burr  was  at  Valley  Forge,  having 
been  promoted  to  a  lieutenant  colonelcy,  with  the 
command  of  a  regiment.  At  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth  he  commanded  a  brigade  under  Lord  Sterling, 


20  JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON. 

and  was  reported  by  that  officer  as  having  greatly 
distinguished  himself.  He  was  for  a  short  time  in 
command  at  West  Point.  It  was  here  he  received 
the  nickname  of  "Colonel  Burr's  son,"  by  which  he 
was  for  some  time  known  in  the  army.  He  was  but 
twenty-three  years  old  and  very  youthful  looking. 
A  farmer  called  one  day  and  asked  to  see  the  com 
mandant,  Colonel  Burr.  When  Burr  appeared  the 
farmer  said,  "it  is  Colonel  Burr  I  wish  to  see." 
"lam  Colonel  Burr,"  was  the  reply.  "You,"  an 
swered  the  farmer,  "I  would  take  you  to  be  Colonel 
Burr's  son."  And  with  the  soldiers  he  was  ever 
after  spoken  of  as  "Colonel  Burr's  son." 

In  the  winter  of  1779,  Colonel  Burr  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  Westchester  lines,  by  Washington, 
with  the  remark  that  "the  duties  required  in  their 
discharge,  prudence,  activity  and  bravery,"  thus  im 
plying  that  he  believed  Burr  possessed  these  qualities. 
The  "lines"  were  a  district  lying  between  the  con 
tending  British  and  American  armies,  a  distance  of 
some  twenty  miles.  It  was  a  district  exposed  to 
the  worst  ravages  of  war  and  where  murder,  rapine 
and  lawlessness  of  every  kind  prevailed.  It  was 
Burr's  duty  to  suppress  all  this  and  to  restore  order 
and  good  conduct  among  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
about  equally  divided  between  Whigs  and  Tories. 
How  Burr  succeeded  in  this  work  is  told  at  much 
length  by  Samuel  Young,  one  of  Burr's  fellow-sol- 
diers.  Mr.  Young's  conclusion  is  as  follows:  "Hav- 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  21 

ing  perused  what  I  have  written,  it  does  not  appear 
to  me  that  I  have  conveyed  any  adequate  idea  of 
Burr's  military  character.  It  may  be  aided  a  little 
by  reviewing  the  effects  he  produced.  The  troops 
of  which  he  took  command  were,  at  the  time  he 
took  command,  undisciplined,  negligent  and  dis 
contented.  Desertions  were  frequent.  In  a  few 
days  these  men  were  transformed  into  brave  and 
honest  defenders;  orderly,  contented  and  cheerful; 
confident  in  their  own  courage,  and  loving  to  adora 
tion  their  commander,  whom  every  man  considered 
as  his  personal  friend.  It  was  thought  a  severe 
punishment,  as  well  as  disgrace,  to  be  sent  up  to  the 
camp,  where  they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  lounge 
and  eat  their  rations. 

"During  the  whole  of  this  command  there  was 
not  a  single  desertion,  not  a  single  death  by  sickness, 
not  one  made  prisoner  by  the  enemy;  for  Burr  had 
taught  us  that  a  soldier  with  arms  in  his  hands  ought 
never,  under  any  circumstances,  to  surrender;  no 
matter  if  he  was  opposed  to  thousands,  it  was  his  duty 
to  fight.  After  the  first  ten  days  there  was  not  a 
single  instance  of  robbery.  The  whole  country  under 
his  command  enjoyed  security.  The  inhabitants, 
to  express  their  gratitude,  frequently  brought  presents 
of  such  articles  as  the  country  afforded ;  but  Colonel 
Burr  would  accept  no  presents.  He  fixed  reasonable 
prices,  and  paid  in  cash  for  everything  that  was 
received,  and  sometimes  I  know  that  these  payments 


22  JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON. 

were  made  with  his  own  money.  Colonel  Simcoe, 
one  of  the  most  daring  and  active  partisans  in  the 
British  army,  was,  with  Colonels  Emerick  and 
Delancey,  opposed  to  Burr  on  the  lines,  yet  they 
were  completely  held  in  check.  But,  perhaps  the 
highest  eulogy  on  Colonel  Burr  is,  that  no  successor 
could  be  found  capable  of  executing  his  plans,  though 
the  example  was  before  him.  When  Burr  left  the 
lines  a  sadness  overspread  the  country,  and  the  most 
gloomy  forebodings  were  too  soon  fulfilled."  Many 
other  testimonials  of  Burr's  "consummate  skill, 
astonishing  vigilance  and  extreme  activity,"  by 
cotemporaries  who  wrote  from  personal  knowledge, 
can  be  found,  enough  indeed  to  fill  a  volume.  No 
soldier  who  marched  and  fought  with  Burr  was  ever 
known  to  speak  ill  of  him,  or  failed  to  be  his  friend 
through  life. 

In  the  spring  of  1779,  his  health  failing,  Burr 
wrote  to  Washington  for  leave  of  absence,  to  recruit 
his  health,  offering  to  remit  his  pay  during  such 
absence.  Washington  replied  in  a  kind  and  friendly 
letter,  granting  the  leave,  but  declining  to  permit  the 
suspension  of  pay  during  his  absence.  Finding  his 
health  did  not  improve  he  resigned  his  commission, 
which  was  then  that  of  colonel.  Thus,  after  four 
years  of  service,  Burr  retired  from  the  army  and 
repaired  to  Albany  to  prepare  for  the  practice  of  law. 

Hamilton,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  organized  a  battery  of  artillery,  and  was 


JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTON.  23 

made  its  captain.  Under  his  command,  his  guns  did 
good  service  at  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  and  again 
at  Trenton  and  Princeton.  The  ability  and  activity 
displayed  by  the  young  captain  soon  attracted  the 
notice  of  Washington,  who  early  in  1777,  invited  him 
to  become  his  military  secretary  and  a  member  of 
his  staff,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  The 
arduous  and  delicate  duties  of  this  position  he  dis 
charged  with  consummate  ability  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  the  commander-in-chief,  for  the  suc 
ceeding  four  years.  This  long  and  confidential  rela 
tion  was  severed  at  length,  perhaps  by  the  fault  of 
Washington.  In  a  moment  of  anger,  at  some  seem 
ing  disrespect  from  Hamilton,  Washington  repri 
manded  him.  Hamilton  promptly  resigned.  There 
was  hot  blood  on  both  sides,  for  when  Washington 
tendered  reconciliation,  Hamilton  refused  it.  Ham 
ilton  retained  his  rank,  but  was  attached  to  no 
military  command,  and  was,  therefore,  without  any 
position  in  the  army.  He  applied  to  Washington 
for  an  assignment  in  accordance  with  his  rank. 
Washington  interposed  objections.  These  Hamilton 
sought  to  remove,  but  failed.  Hamilton  then  re 
tired  to  Albany,  and  began  the  study  of  the  law. 
One  year  later  he  again  applied  for  a  position  in  the 
line  and  was  given  an  assignment,  which,  as  he  de 
clared,  was  beneath  his  expectation,  but  he  ac 
cepted,  and  in  the  following  campaign  led  a  brilliant 
and  daring  assault,  capturing  a  redoubt  at  the  siege 


24  JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTOX. 

of  Yorktown.     This  closed  his  services  in  the  war 
of  the  .Revolution. 

As  these  young  men  had  simultaneously  entered 
the  army,  from  which  each  retired  with  distinguished 
credit,  so  almost  at  the  same  time  both  began  the 
practice  of  law  in  New  York  city.  Before  this  each 
had  married.  Hamilton  became  the  son-in-law  of 
General  Schuyler,  and  thus  secured  the  influence  of 
one  of  the  most  wealthy  and  powerful  families  in 
the  State.  Burr  married  a  young  widow,  with  no 
family  connections  of  value.  It  was  not  long  until 
the  young  colleagues  at  the  bar,  as  they  had  been 
comrades  in  arms,  marched  side  by  side  to  the  front 
rank  of  their  profession.  It  is  not  the  intention  to 
follow  these  distinguished  rivals  through  the  public 
career  of  each,  except  where  they  come  into  contact. 
But  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  brief  mention  to 
each.  Hamilton  at  a  very  early  age  actively  en 
gaged  in  politics.  Burr  confined  himself  to  his  pro 
fession  until  nearly  middle  life.  Both  never  served 
in  the  same  official  position.  Burr  gained  higher 
rank,  but  Hamilton  made  the  greater  reputation. 
The  official  life  of  each  was  distinguished  by  ability 
and  strict  integrity.  The  genius  displayed  by  Ham 
ilton,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  made  him,  if  not 
the  greatest  statesman  of  his  age,  at  least  the  greatest 
this  country  had  produced.  He  was  undoubtedly  the 
most  brilliant,  comprehensive  and  able  writer  of  his 
day,  and  if  not  the  greatest  in  eloquence  and  reason- 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  25 

ing    power,  there  were   few   who   could   claim   pre 
cedence. 

At  the  bar  Hamilton  and  Burr  stood  in  the  front 
rank  alone  ;  no  others  approached  them.  They  were 
rivals,  but  they  were  friends;  each  freely  expressed 
admiration  for  the  ability  of  the  other.  Both  great, 
but  with  different  methods.  Hamilton's  mind  dwelt 
on  general  principles  and  largely  ignored  precedents. 
When  the  case  permitted  full  play  to  his  imagination, 
his  eloquence  was  irresistible.  The  most  eloquent 
effort  of  his  life  was  when  he  attacked  and  over 
threw  the  old  legal  dogma  that  in  libel,  "the  greater 
the  truth,  the  greater  the  libel."  All  his  speeches 
were  overflowing  with  words,  not  only  in  discussing 
the  leading  points,  but  in  the  minutest  details.  He 
discussed  everything  connected  with  a  case,  often 
obscuring  the  strong  points  by  his  elaborate  presen 
tation  of  the  weak  ones.  But  if  his  words  were 
many,  the}'  were  formed  in  the  smoothest  and  most 
rhythmical  of  sentences.  Burr's  methods  were 
different ;  he  would  select  a  few  vital  points  for 
attack  and  demolish  them  in  few  words,  but  with 
such  force  and  directness  that  a  jury  could  not  fail 
to  understand  him.  fin  regard  to  the  use  of  text 
and  precedent,  Burr  was  undoubtedly  the  better 
lawyer.  He  often  defeated  Hamilton  by  his  more 
dexterous  use  of  court  decisions.  It  was  said  that 
Burr  never  lost  a  case  when  he  personally  conducted 
it.  jrhis  was,  however,  largely  because  of  his  rule 


26  JEFKERSOX-KURR-H  A  MILTON. 

never  to  take-tt  «ase  unless  he  believed  the  right  was 
with  his  client.   \ 

Hammo~ncT8  History  of  Political  Parties  in  New 
York  quotes  the  opinion  of  General  Erastus  Root 
upon  this  subject.  General  Root,  who  knew  both 
men  well,  is  reported  as  saying  :  "As  a  lawyer  and 
as  a  scholar  Burr  was  not  inferior  to  Hamilton. 
His  reasoning  powers  were  at  least  equal.  Their 
modes  of  argument  were  very  different.  Hamilton 
was  very  diffuse  and  wordy.  His  words  were  so 
well  chosen,  and  his  sentences  so  finely  formed  into 
a  swelling  current,  that  the  hearer  would  be  capti 
vated.  The  listener  would  admire,  if  he  was  not 
convinced.  Burr's  arguments  were  generally  meth 
odized  and  compact.  I  used  to  say  of  them,  when 
they  were  rivals  at  the  bar,  that  Burr  would  eay  as 
much  in  half  an  hour  as  Hamilton  in  two  hours. 
(_Burr  was  terse  and  convincing^  while  Hamilton  was 
flowing  and  rapturous.  Tney  were  much  the 
greatest  men  in  this  State,  and  perhaps  the  greatest 
men  in  the  United  States." 

Burr  was  not  only  successful,  in  the  highest 
degree,  in  his  profession,  but  his  domestic  life  was 
full  of  unalloyed  happiness.  His  marriage  was  a 
surprise  to  all  but  those'wHo  most  intimately  knew 
him.  A  young  man,  twenty-six  years  old,  hand 
some,  cultured,  well-born,  of  faRcinating  manners, and 
famous  as  a  soldier  ;  one  who  would  have  been  gladly 
received  into  any  of  the  wealthy  and  influential 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HAMILTON.  27 

families  of  the  State,  would  be  expected  to  promote 
his  personal  advancement  in  the  selection  of  a  wife. 
But  Burr's  bride  was  a  poor  widow,  the  mother  of 
two  romping  boys,  and  of  no  family  connection  of 
any  value  whatever.  She  was  not  beautiful,  she  was 
almost  plain,  and  she  was  ten  years  older  than  Burr. 
There  must  have  been  other  fascinations  than  youth 
or  beauty  or  wealth  to  capjtivate  one  so  fastidious  as 
Burr.  And  there  wereX  She  possessed  a  wondrous 
charm  of  manner,  a  pleasing  grace  of  style,  which 
Burr  always  declared  were  unexcelled  by  any  other 
lady  he  ever  knew.  She  was  familiar  with  all  the 
best  literature  of  Europe,  and  spoke  fluently  most 
modern  languages.  Besides  her  graceful  manners 
her  mind  was  well  stored  with  useful  knowledge, 
and  in  all  respects  cultivated  beyond  that  of  most 
ladies  of  that  day.  She  was  kind  and  affectionate, 
and  in  the  real  sense  religious.  She  writes  Burr, 
commending  religion,  and  says:  "Worlds  should  not 
purchase  the  little  I  possess.''  Their  married  life 
lasted  for  twelve  years,  and  they  were  years  of  un 
alloyed  happiness  for  both.  Their  confidence  in  and 
devotion  _io  each  other  were  never  for  a  moment 
disturbed.^ 

Their  devotion  and  affection  for  each  other  are 
better  gathered  from  their  correspondence  during 
Burr's  absences  than  from  any  other  source.  And  of 
this  there  is  a  great  store,  for  they  wrote  almost 
daily.  Only  a  few  paragraphs  can  be  given,  and 


28  J  K  FFERS<  )X-B  V  K  K- 1 I A  MILTON . 

these  simply  to  refute  the  oft  repeated  calumny  that 
Burr  was  unkind  to  his  wife.  Five  years  after  their 
marriage.  Mrs.  Burr  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  a 
delayed  letter,  and  the  joy  of  the  whole  household 
on  receiving  it.  "What  language,"  she  exclaims, 
"can  express  the  joy,  the  gratitude  of  Theodosia? 
Stage  after  stage  without  a  line.  Thy  usual  punctu 
ality  gave  room  for  every  fear;  various  conjectures 
filled  every  breast.  One  of  our  sons  was  to  have 
departed  to-morrow  in  quest  of  the  best  of  friends 
and  fathers.  This  morning  we  waited  the  stage 
with  impatience.  Shrouder  went  frequently  before 
it  arrived;  at  length  returned  —  no  letter.  We  were 
struck  dumb  with  disappointment.  Bartow  set  out 
to  inquire  who  were  the  passengers;  in  a  very  few 
minutes  returned  exulting  —  a  packet  worth  the 
treasures  of  the  universe.  Joy  brightened  every 
face;  all  expressed  their  past  anxieties,  their  present 
happiness.  To  enjoy  was  the  first  result.  Each 
made  choice  of  what  was  best  relished.  Porter, 
sweet  wine,  chocolate  and  sweet-meats  made  the 
most  delightful  repast  that  could  be  shared  without 
thee.  The  servants,  who  were  made  to  feel  their 
lord  was  well,  are  at  this  moment  toasting  his  health 
and  bounty:  while  the  boys  are  obeying  thy  dear 
commands,  thy  Theodosia  flies  to  speak  her  heartfelt 
joys:  — her  Aaron  safe,  mistress  of  the  heart  she 
adores;  can  she  ask  more?  has  heaven  more  to 
tyrant?  " 


JEFFERSON-BURR-HA  MILTON.  29 

Another  paragraph  will  give  her  more  usual 
style,  in  discussing  passing  events.  Catharine  of 
.Russia  was  at  the  time  creating  great  interest  in  the 
world.  Mrs.  Burr  writes:  "  The  Empress  of  Eussia 
is  as  successful  as  I  wish  her.  What  a  glorious 
figure  will  she  make  on  the  historical  page !  Can 
you  form  an  idea  of  a  more  happy  mortal  than  she 
will  be  when  seated  on  the  throne  of  Constantinople  ? 
How  her  ambition  will  be  gratified ;  the  opposi 
tion  and  threats  of  Great  Britain  will  increase  her 
triumph.  I  wish  I  had  wit  and  importance  enough 
to  write  her  a  congratulatory  letter.  The  ladies 
should  deify  her,  and  consecrate  a  temple  to  her 
praise.  It  is  a  diverting  thought  that  the  mighty 
Emperor  of  the  Turks  should  be  subdued  by  a 
woman.  How  enviable  that  she  alone  should  be  the 
avenger  of  her  sex's  wrongs  for  so  many  ages  past. 
She  seems  to  have  awakened  Justice,  who  appears  to 
be^a-sleepy  dame  in  the  cause  of  injured  innocence." 
(JBurr's  letters  to  his  wife  are  filled  with  the  ardor 
and  devotion  of  a  lover.  He  returns  her  warm 
affection  in  full,  measure  for  measure.  And  thus  for 
twelve  years  their  happiness  is  uninterrupted.  Then 
death  came  in  its  most  terrible  form  to  the  wife  and 
mother,  the  agony  caused  by  internal  cancer.\  That 
Burr  loved  his  wife  to  the  last,  that  he  was  a  true 
and  faithful  husband  to  her,  can  be  asserted  with 
great  confidence,  notwithstanding  the  calumnies  of 
his  political  enemies.  Parton  upon  this  subject  says  : 


30  JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTON. 

"  To  the  last,  she  was  a  happy  wife,  and  he  an 
attentive,  fond  husband.  I  assert  this  positively." 
And  again  :  "  No  one  now  lives  who  can,  of  his  own 
personal  knowledge,  speak  of  the  domestic  life  of  a 
lady  who  died  sixty-two  years  ago.  But  there  are 
many  who  are  still  living,  whose  parents  were  most 
intimately  conversant  with  the  interior  of  Eichmond 
.Hill,  and  who  have  heard  narrated  all  the  minute 
incidents  of  the  life  led  therein.  The  last  of  the  old 
servants  of  the  family  died  only  a  short  time  ago ; 
and  the  persons  best  acquainted  with  the  best  part 
of  Burr's  character  are  still  walking  these  streets. 
His  own  letters  to  his  wife  —  all  respect,  solicitude, 
and  affection  —  confirm  the  positive  asseverations  of 
these.  I  repeat,  therefore,  that  Mrs.  Burr  lived  and 
died  a  satisfied,  a  confiding,  a  beloved,  a  trusted  wife." 
Upon  the  death  of  his  wife,  Burr  was  left  with 
an  only  daughter,  described  as  "  a  rosy  little  girl  of 
eleven,"  and  almost  idolized  by  her  father.  She  was 
unusually  precocious,  had  mastered  Latin,  studied 
Greek,  and  conversed  fluently  in  French  before  she 
was  ten  years  old.  He  directed  her  studies,  and 
endeavored  to  form  her  mind  upon  the  highest 
models.  He  advised  her  in  her  every-day  conduct 
with  those  about  her.  He  tells  her  she  must  treat  her 
governess  with  entire  respect  and  all  proper  con 
sideration.  He  says,  "remember  that  one  in  the 
situation  of  madame  has  a  thousand  things  to  fret 
her  temper;  and  you  know  that  one  out  of  humor 


I 


JEFFERSOX-BURR-HAMILTON.  31 

for  any  cause  whatever,  is  apt  to  vent  it  on  every 
person  that  happens  to  be  in  the  way.  We  must 
learn  to  bear  these  things ;  and,  let  me  tell  you,  that 
you  will  always  feel  much  better,  much  happier,  for 
having  borne  with  serenity  the  spleen  of  anyone, 
than  if  you  had  returned  spleen  for  spleen."  This 
was  certainly  good  advice.  The  plan  of  this  work 
does  not  permit  us  to  follow  this  gifted  woman 
through  her  brilliant  career,  and  to  her  sad  and 
mysterious  death.  \But  both  her  life  and  death  had 
large  control  over  the  destiny  of  her  devoted  and 
stricken  father.; 

An  anonyrnous  writer  says  of  this  daughter : 
"  From  her  earliest  years  he  had  educated  her  with 
a  care  to  which  we  look  in  vain  for  a  parallel  among 
his  contemporaries.  She  grew  up,  in  consequence, 
no  ordinary  woman.  Beautiful  beyond  most  of  her 
sex,  accomplished  as  few  females  of  that  day  were 
accomplished,  she  displayed  to  her  family  and  friends 
a  fervor  of  affection  which  not  every  woman  is  capa 
ble  of.  The  character  of  Theodosia  Burr  has  long 
been  regarded  almost  as  we  would  regard  that  of  a 
heroine  of  romance.  Her  love  for  her  father  par 
took  of  the  purity  of  a  better  world ;  holy,  deep, 
unchanging;  it  reminds  us  of  the  affection  which  a 
celestial  spirit  might  be  supposed  to  entertain  for  a 
parent,  cast  down  from  heaven,  for  sharing  in  the 
sin  of  the  '  Son  of  the  Morning.'  No  sooner  did  she 
hear  of  the  arrest  of  her  father,  than  she  fled  to  his 


32  JEFFEKSON-HrKR-HA  MILTON. 

side.  There  is  nothing  in  human  history  more 
touching  than  the  hurried  letters,  blotted  with  tears, 
in  which  she  announced  her  daily  progress  to  Rich 
mond  ;  for  she  was  too  weak  to  travel  with  the 
rapidity  of  the  mail.  Even  the  character  of  Burr 
borrows  a  momentary  halo  from  hers,  when  we 
peruse  his  replies,  in  which,  forgetting  his  peril  and 
relaxing  the  stern  front  he  assumed  toward  his 
enemies,  he  labored  only  to  quiet  her  fears,  and 
inspire  her  with  confidence  in  his  acquittal.  He  even 
writes  from  his  prison  in  a  tone  of  gayety,  jestingly 
regretting  that  his  accommodations  are  not  more 
elegant  for  her  reception.  Once,  and  once  only, 
does  he  melt,  and  that  is  to  tell  her  that  in  the  event 
of  the  worst,  he  will  die  worthy  of  himself." 


CHAPTER  II. 


JEFFERSON  AND  HAMILTON. 


Burr's  Election  to  the  Senate  — His  Popularity  with  his  Party  — In 
Washington's  Cabinet  — A  Mistake  — Constant  Contention  —  The 
President's  Distress  — His  Difficulty  in  Reorganizing  the  Cabinet  — 
Jefferson's  Programme  —  Assails  the  Administration  —  Hamilton  — 
Some  of  his  Characteristics  —  Cause  of  his  Mistakes. 


When  Burr  returned  to  civil  life  he  was  a  mature 
man.  five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  of  slender  but 
sinewy  form,  handsome  features,  with  eyes  bright, 
black  and  piercing.  He  settled  in  New  York  and 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  His  success  was 
marvelous;  he  rose  almost  at  a  bound  to  the  head  of 
his  profession,  having  no  superior  and  no  rival  but 
Hamilton.  At  thirty-five  years  of  age,  at  the  head 
of  the  bar  in  New  York,  he  had  taken  no  interest  in 
politics.  It  was  scarcely  known  to  which  side  he 
inclined.  At  that  age,  without  solicitation  and  with 
out  consultation  with  Burr,  the  legislature  elected  . 
him  to  the  United  States  Senate  to  succeed  General 
Schuyler,  a  leader  of  the  Federalists  and  the  father- 
in-law  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  This  was  the  founda- 

(33) 


34  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

tion  of  Hamilton's  antipathy  to  Burr.  As  a  senator 
Burr  ranked  himself  with  the  Republicans,  and 
became  at  once  the  recognized  leader  of  that  party 
in  the  Senate.  Of  Burr's  career  as  a  senator  we 
have  little  but  tradition.  The  Senate  during  its  first 
years  met  only  with  closed  doors ;  no  record  of  its 
debates  was  kept,  andx  nothing  but  its  bare  journal 
\  /was  ever  published.  \But  from  Burr's  prominence, 
on  all  leading  committees,  it  may  well  be  inferred 
that  his  ability  was  appreciated.  / 

Burr  occupied  almost  exactly  the  same  position 
in  the  Senate  that  Madison  did  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  [_Both,  during  Burr's  term,  were 
patriotic,  conservative  members  of  the  Eepublican 
party .j Neither  approved  or  joined  Jefferson  in  his 
crusade  against  Washington's  administration,  both 
giving  it  support.Jhough  Madison  afterward  went 
over  to  Jefferson.  \One  incident  shows  Burr's  great 
popularity  and  strength  with  .hi^  party  during  the 
time  he  held  a  seat  in  the  Senate^  In  1794,  Wash 
ington,  learning  that  our  minister  to  France,  a 
prominent  Federalist,  was  unpopular  with  the  Ee 
publican  government  of  that  country,  intimated  to 
the  Republicans  here  that  if  they  would  name  one 
of  their  number  he  would  appoint  him  to  the  French 
mission.  Whereupon  the  Republican  members  of 
the  two  houses  of  Congress  held  a  joint  caucus  and 
unanimously  selected  Burr  for  the  position.  A 
committee  was  appointed,  of  which  Madison  and 


JEFFERSON  AMD  HAMILTON.  35 

Monroe  were  both  members,  to  wait  upon  the  Presi 
dent  and  notify  him  of  their  choice.  But  Hamilton 
was  then  the  ruling  power  in  matters  of  this  kind, 
and  Washington  declined  to  make  the  appointment. 
The  committee  returned  and  reported  to  the  caucus 
the  result  of  their  application.  The  caucus  sent  the 
committee  back  to  the  President  to  renew  their 
request.  A  second  refusal  was  all  that  was  obtained. 
The  committee  was  then  instructed  to  go  to  the 
President  a  third  time,  and  say  to  him  that  Colonel 
Burr  was  the  choice  of  the  Republican  Senators  and 
-Representatives,  and  that  they  would  make  no  other 
nomination.  This  incident  slows  Hamilton's  great 
influence  with  Washington,  and  Burr's  extraordinary 
popularity  with  the  Republicans  in  both  houses  of 
Congress. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  in  discrediting  Burr,  that 
Washington  doajat^jiis^integrity.  So  he  did,  and 
so  he  doubted  the  integrity  of  Chancellor  Living 
ston,  who  had  been  not  only  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 

.       \\^ 

tion  of  Independence,  but  one  of  the  committee  that 
reported  it.  So  he  doubted  other  prominent  men  of 
New  York,  and  refused  them  appointments,  because 
Hamilton  chose  to  dislike  them.  John  Adams  was  ' 
a  Federalist  President,  and  had  presided  over  the 
senate  for  the  entire  six  years  that  Burr  was  a  mem 
ber  of  that  body.  He  had  ample  opportunity  to 
judge  Burr  for  himself.  When  President  he  wished 
to  give  him  the  appointment  of  brigadier  general, 


36  JEFFERSON   AND  HAMILTON. 

but  Hamilton  interfered  and  prevented.  Adams 
gives  this  account  of  his  failure.  Adams  was  Presi 
dent  and  had  the  sole  right  to  make  nominations, 
but,  through  a  successful  series  of  intrigues,  Hamil 
ton  had  succeeded  in  having  himself  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  army  next  to  Washington,  who  was 
commander-in-chief.  Hamilton  incited  Washington 
to  claim  the  right  to  determine  nominations  for 
array  appointments.  This  right  Adams  yielded  to 
Washington,  but  it  was  exercised  by  Hamilton. 
Adams  wished  to  make  Burr  a  brigadier,  but  was 
denied  the  privilege.  Adams  says: 

"  I  proposed  to  General  Washington,  in  a  con 
ference  between  him  and  me,  and  through  him  to 
the  triumvirate  (Washington,  Hamilton  and  Pinck- 
ney)  to  nominate  Col.  Burr  for  a  brigadier  general. 
Washington's  answer  to  me  was:  'By  all  I  have 
known  and  heard,  Col.  Burr  is  a  brave  and  able 
officer,  but  the  question  is  whether  he  has  not  equal 
talent  for  intrigue.'"  Adams  adds:  "How  shall  I 
describe  to  you  my  sensations  and  reflections  at  that 
moment?  He  had  compelled  me  to  promote  over 
the  heads  pf  Lincoln,  Clinton,  dates,  Knox  and 
others,  and  evea  over  Pinckney,  one  of  his  own 
triumvirate  (Hamilton),  the  most  restless,  impatient, 
artful,  indefatigable  and  unprincipled  intriguer  in 
the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world,  to  be  second 
in  command  under  himself,  and  dreaded  an  intriguer 
in  a  poor  brigadier."  ) 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON.  37 

The  sessions  of  the  senate,  during  nearly  all  of 
Burr's  six  years'  membership,  were  held  strictly  in 
secret.  Burr  had  from  the  beginning  advocated 
open  sessions,  but  it  was  not  until  near  the  end  of 
his  term  that  the  proposal  carried.  No  reports  of 
the  debates  were  ever  made,  and,  therefore,  the 
oratory  of  the  senators  was  lost  to  the  world.  _HuiT, 
however,  was  known  to  be  the  ablest  debater  in  the 
senate,  and  when  any  great  effort  was  to  be  made 
he  was  called  to  make  it.  On  one  occasion  a  reply 
to  a  speech  of  Rufus  King  became  necessary,  when 
John  Taylor  wrote  Burr,  saying:  "We  shall  leave 
you  to  reply  to  Iving,  first,  because  you  desire  it ; 
second,  all  depends  on  it;  no  one  else  can  do  it,  and 
the  audience  will  expect  it."  But  Burr's  greatest 
effort,  that  which  gave  him  most  renown,  was  his 
speech  in  opposition  to  the  ratification  of  Jay's 
treaty.  "Members  who  heard  it  never  ceased  to  extol 
it.  It  was  regarded  as  even  exceeding  in  eloquence 
and  argument  the  brilliant  effort  of  Fisher  Ames, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  same  question,  in  the  lower 
house  of  congress.  In  all  Burr's  six  years  in  the 
senate  no  speech  of  his  was  ever  reported  or  printed, 
and  never  but  once  while  he  was  Vice-President 
did  he  have  opportunity  to  make  a  speech.  Like 
PatrickJTenry'fl,  his  oratory  lives  only  in  tradition. 

While  Burr  and  his  work  were  buried  from 
public  view  in  the  secret  sessions  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  Jefferson  was  prominently  before  the 


JEKFERSOX    AND    HAMILTON. 


country,  as  Secretary  of  State  in  the  cabinet  of 
Washington.  To  assume  this  position  he  had  re 
turned  from  the  court  at  Versailles,  thoroughly 
imbued  with  French  Jacobinical  ideas.  To  the  con 
stitution  which  he  at  first  condemned  he  afterward 
gave  qualified  approval,  but  still  remained  the  leader 
of  the  faction  which  opposed  it.  Washington  in 
assuming  the  presidency  sought  to  become  the  presi 
dent  of  the  whole  people,  and  not  merely  the  leader 
of  a  party.  He  earnestly  believed  his  great  name 
and  universal  popularity  would  be  able  to  reconcile 
all  differences  and  unite  the  people  in  one  grand 
American  party. 

With  this  view  he  brought  into  his  administra 
tion,  as  his  confidential  advisers,  the  leading  men  of 
the  opposing  factions.  Washington  had  been  a 
successful  soldier,  he  had  been  accustomed  to  discip 
line  and  command  men,  but  he  had  no  experience  in 
political  government,  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
uncontrollable  spirit  and  fierceness  of  political  con 
tention.  His  mistake  was  natural,  but  it  was  fatal  to 
the  peace  of  his  administration  and  that  of  the 
country.  There  could  be  neither  peace  nor  harmony 
between  Jefferson  and  Hamilton.  To  this  mistake 
must  be  attributed,  not  only  the  great  unhappiness 
of  the  President,  but  also  the  creation  of  a  party 
conflict,  which  for  fierceness  and  bitterness  has  never 
been  equaled,  or  even  approached,  under  any  other 
administration  of  our  government. 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON.  39 

Meeting  daily  in  the  cabinet  of  Washington, 
these  distinguished  rivals  were  in  constant  conten 
tion  ;  they  seldom  agreed.  Jefferson  has  recorded 
that  "  Hamilton  and  myself  were  daily  pitted,  in  the 
cabinet,  like  two  game  cocks."  They  wrangled 
almost  continuously,  while  their  adherents  among 
the  people,  taking  up  their  quarrels,  were  aroused 
almost  to  a  frenzy  of  passion  and  hatred.  In  these 
cabinet  contests  Hamilton  was  usually  supported  by 
Knox,  and  Jefferson  by  Randolph,  making  an  equal 
division.  Nothing  was  decided  in  council.  Wash 
ington  was,  therefore,  in  this  confusion  of  advice, 
compelled  to  decide  for  himself.  And  to  the  indig 
nation  of  Jefferson  he  usually  decided  with  Hamilton, 
because  Hamilton  was  usually  right  and  Jefferson 
was  usually  wrong. 

One  of  Washington's  chief  desires  was  to  estab 
lish,  by  this  first  administration,  a  strictly  American 
policy  for  the  new  government.  He  wished  to 
maintain  an  absolute  neutrality  in  the  affairs  of  all 
other  countries.  In  this  he  had  little  encouragement 
from  either  of  his  leading  advisers.  Great  Britain 
and  France  were  engaged  in  deadly  warfare,  seem 
ingly  a  war  for  the  mastery,  not  only  of  each  other, 
but  for  the  entire  continent  of  Europe.  Hamilton's 
sympathies  were  strongly  with  England;  Jefferson's 
entirely  with  France.  Hamilton  believed  the  British 
government  the  best  in  existence,  and  regarded  the 
French  revolution  almost  with  horror.  Jefferson 


40  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

was  heart  and  soul  devoted  to  the  French  republi 
cans,  and  urged  intervention  in  their  behalf.  The 
views  of  these  leaders  were  warmly  espoused  by  their 
adherents  among  the  people,  and  the  whole  country 
was  wild  with  the  controversy. 

The  great  body  of  the  common  people,  on  this 
question,  was  almost  entirely  with  Jefferson.  They 
had  not  forgotten  the  assistance  they  received  from 
France  in  their  own  struggle  for  self-government. 
They  were,  therefore,  warmly  enlisted  in  favor  of 
the  French  republicans  contending  for  self-govern 
ment  against  a  strong  monarchical  combination.  In 
the  earlier  stages  of  this  revolution,  this  feeling 
pervaded  all  classes  and  all  parties  in  this  country. 
It  was  not  until  the  "reign  of  terror"  disclosed  the 
incapacity  of  the  French  people  and  the  bloodthirs- 
tiness  of  their  leaders,  that  a  reaction  in  public 
sentiment,  among  the  better  class  of  people,  appeared. 
Some  of  our  thinking  men  had  made  early  predic 
tion  of  the  failure  of  the  French  revolution.  John 
Adams,  at  the  commencement,  declared  that:  "Did 
erot  and  D'Alembert,  Voltaire  and  Kousseau,  had 
contributed  to  this  great  event  more  than  Sidney, 
Locke  or  Hoadley,  perhaps  more  than  the  American 
Revolution,"  and  says:  UI  know  not  what  to  make 
of  a  republic  of  thirty  million  atheists." 

Washington  wished  to  avoid  entangling  alliances 
with  either  country.  He  urged  strict  neutrality. 
The  offensive  coldness  with  which  he  received  the 


JEFFERSON    AND    HAMILTON.  41 

French  minister  Genet,  aroused  a  storm  of  indigna 
tion  from  the  adherents  of  Jefferson.  The  wildest 
scenes  of  excitement  and  tumult  everywhere  pre 
vailed.  Washington  was  denounced  as  a  traitor, 
and  his  impeachment  demanded  by  the  furious  mob. 
Adams  and  Hamilton,  as  well  as  many  other  promi 
nent  Federalists,  scarcely  dared  to  appear  in  public. 
John  Adams  afterward,  in  describing  the  frenzy 
of  the  mob  at  Philadelphia,  then  the  capital,  said  : 
"You  certainly  never  felt  the  terrorism  excited  by 
Genet,  in  1793,  when  ten  thousand  people,  in  the 
streets  of  Philadelphia,  day  after  day,  threatened  to 
drag  Washington  out  of  his  house  and  effect  a  revo 
lution  in  the  government,  or  compel  it  to  declare  in 
favor  of  the  French  revolution  and  against  Eng 
land."  He  proceeds  to  tell  how  he  procured  arms 
from  the  government  armory  to  defend  his  own 
house  and  protect  his  own  person.  There  seemed 
to  have  been  a  wild  delirium,  an  utter  madness, 
universal  among  the  French  partisans  in  the  country. 
Mistaking  the  strength  and  firmness  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  misled  by  the  clamor  of  the  opposition, 
the  minister  from  France  assumed  dictatorial  powers, 
and,  appealing  to  the  people,  openly  defied  the  ad 
ministration. 

Jefferson's  position  was  singularly  anomalous; 
as  Secretary  of  State  he  was  the  organ  of  the  ad 
ministration  in  dealing  with  the  French  troubles. 
His  own  feelings  were  with  the  partisans  of  France 


42  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

indeed  he  was  their  acknowledged  leader,  but  in 
ppeaking  for  the  administration  he  was  compelled  to 
condemn  his  own  principles  and  reprove  his  own  fol 
lowers.  In  a  letter  to  the  President,  Jefferson  com 
plains  of  this,  and,  after  stating  that  his  own  system 
was  to  favor  France  in  some  things  and  meet  the 
English  with  some  restrictions,  he  says:  "Yet  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  by  his  cabals  with  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature,  and  by  high  toned  declama 
tion  on  other  occasions,  has  forced  down  his  own 
ay  stem,  which  is  exactly  the  reverse.  These  views 
thus  made  to  prevail,  their  execution,  of  course,  fell 
to  me,  and  I  can  safely  appeal  to  you,  who  have 
seen  all  my  letters  and  proceedings,  whether  I  have 
not  carried  them  into  execution  as  sincerely  as  if 
they  had  been  my  own,  though  I  ever  considered 

them  AS  INCONSISTENT  WITH  THE  HONOR  AND  INTEREST 
OF  OUR  COUNTRY.'' 

Jefferson's  complaint  was  well  founded.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  did,  by  "  high  toned  dec 
lamation  "  and  by  other  means,  so  defeat  or  thwart 
the  wishes  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  work  of 
his  department,  that  Jefferson  began  to  feel  he  was 
more  under  the  orders  of  the  Treasurer  than  of 
the  Executive.  That  he  rebelled  and  retaliated  was 
but  natural.  The  warfare  between  these  officials 
then  became  personal,  each  determined  to  disgrace 
the  other  with  the  people  and  especially  with  the 
President.  Jefferson  established  the  National  Get- 


JEFFERSON   AND    HAMILTON.  43 

zette,  with  Freneau,  a  clerk  from  his  own  department, 
as  editor,  to  systematically  attack  and  abuse  Hamil 
ton  and  everything  he  did.  Hamilton,  also,  under 
cover,  fought  back  as  viciously  against  Jefferson. 
The  Gazette  teemed  with  charges  criminating  Ham 
ilton,  and  Hamilton  replied  as  severely  arraigning 
Jefferson.  Aj  In  conversation,  Jefferson  denounced 
Hamilton's-system  as  embodying  "  principles  adverse 
to  liberty  and  calculated  to  undermine  and  demolish 
the  Eepublic."  He  declared  the  Treasurer's  report 
on  manufactures  was  intended  "  to  establish  means 
of  corruption,  for  the  purpose  of  subverting,  step  by 
step,  the  principles  of  the  constitution."  Hamilton 
retorted  by  saying,  as  his  measures  were  adopted 
and  approved  by  the  President,  he  did  not  un 
derstand  how  Jefferson  could  reconcile  it  to  his 
conscience  and  to  his  sense  of  honor  to  remain  a 
member  of  a  govejujment  he  believed  to  be  so  cor 
rupt  and  disloyal. 

The  bitterness  of  this  contention  between  mem 
bers  of  his  cabinet  greatly  distressed  the  President. 
To  end  it  he  wrote  a  letter  of  admonition  to  Jefferson, 
in  which  he  "  deplored  the  schism  which  had  arisen 
in  the  cabinet,"  and  while  impressing  upon  the 
Secretary  of  State  the  necessity  of  forbearance, 
regretted  "  the  attacks  which  had  been  made  upon 
almost  all  the  members  of  government  and  most  of 
its  executive  officers."  Washington  also  wrote  to 
Hamilton  in  a  similar  strain,  regretting  the  asper- 


44  JEFFERSON   AND  HAMILTON. 

\i\es  which  existed  between  the  Secretaries,  and 
counselling  mutual  forbearance,  adding  :  "  How  un 
fortunate  if  a  fabric  so  goodly,  erected  under  so 
many  providential  circumstances,  and  in  its  first 
stages  having  acquired  such  respectability,  should 
by  diversity  of  sentiments,  or  internal  obstructions, 
to  some  of  the  acts  of  government,  be  brought  to  the 
verge  of  dissolution." 

Both  Secretaries  replied  almost  immediately; 
each  in  an  elaborate  statement,  excusing  his  own 
action  and  throwing  all  blame  on  the  other,  but 
neither  promising  to  reform,  though  each  expressed 
a  willingness  to  retire  from  office.  The  tone  and 
temper  of  Jefferson's  reply  may  be  gathered  from 
the  closing  paragraph,  in  which  he  says:  "That 
conscious  of  his  title  to  esteem  from  his  integrity 
and  an  enthusiastic  devotion  to  the  rights  and  liberty 
of  his  countrymen,  he  would  not  suffer  his  retire 
ment  to  be  clouded  by  the  slanders  of  a  man,  whose 
history,  from  the  moment  at  which  history  can  stoop 
to  notice  him,  is  a  tissue  of  machinations  against  the 
liberty  of  the  country  which  has  not  only  received 
and  given  him  bread,  but  heaped  its  honors  upon 
him."  Jefferson  also  declared  his  intention  to  retire 
to  private  lite,  repeating  what  he  always  repeated 
when  most  earnestly  planning  for  higher  political 
position  —  his  disgust  for  public  employment,  and 
that  he  was  looking  for  retirement  "with  the  long 
ing  of  a  wave-worn  mariner." 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON.  45 

Hamilton  was  less  apologetic,  he  felt  more  cer 
tain  of  his  standing  with  the  President,  and  could, 
therefore,  be  more  independent.  He  adroitly  as 
sumed  that  Jefferson  was  assailing  the  administra 
tion,  and  that  he  was  engaged  in  defending  it.  He 
said:  "It  is  my  most  anxious  wish,  as  far  as  may 
depend  upon  me,  to  smooth  the  path  of  your  admin 
istration,  and  to  render  it  prosperous  and  happy. 
And  if  any  prospect  shall  open  of  healing  or  termi 
nating  the  differences  which  exist,  I  shall  most 
cheerfully  embrace  it,  though  I  consider  myself  as 
the  deeply  injured  party."  He  again  says:  "I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  period 
is  not  remote  when  the  public  good  will  require 
substitutes  for  the  differing  members  of  your  admin 
istration."  He  admits  with  great  frankness  his  own 
part  in  the  controversy,  and  that  if  continued  it 
must  result  in  destroying  the  u  energy  of  govern 
ment,"  but  expresses  no  desire  to  withdraw  from  it. 
His  words  are:  "I  cannot  conceal  from  you  that 
I  have  had  some  instrumentality  of  late  in  the 
relations  which  have  fallen  upon  certain  public- 
characters,  and  that  I  find  myself  placed  in  a  situa 
tion  not  to  be  able  to  recede  for  the  present." 

These  differences  and  contentions  between  Jeffer 
son  and  Hamilton  soon  led  to  party  formation. 
The  opposition  to  the  administration  discarded  the 
name  of  anti-Federalist,  and  under  the  leadership  of 
Jefferson  formed  an  organization  and  assumed  the 


46  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

name  of  Republican.  The  mistake  of  associating 
these  men  in  his  administration  was  very  early 
discovered  by  Washington.  Instead  of  producing 
peace  and  harmony,  their  contact  had  widened  party 
differences  and  aroused  party  passions,  until  all 
reason  seemed  dethroned.  The  retirement  of  Jeffer 
son  from  the  cabinet  gave  the  President  his  first 
opportunity  to  correct  his  mistake  and  harmonize 
his  administration.  It  was  not  until  this  attempt 
was  made  that  Washington  fully  understood  the  real 
condition  of  the  country  and  how  thoroughly  all 
good  men  were  disgusted  with  party  politics.  So 
bitter  had  the  persecution  of  the  administration 
become,  so  persistently  was  it  abused  and  vilified, 
that  no  man  who  cared  for  a  good  name  dare  risk 
the  taking  a  position  in  the  cabinet. 

Mr.  Randolph,  the  Attorney  General,  for  a  short 
time  discharged  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  State,  but 
soon  retired  in  disgrace.  Then  "one  after  another 
of  the  best  and  strongest  men  was  summoned  to  fill 
the  vacant  post.  Not  one  of  them  had  the  courage 
to  come."  Mr.  Patterson,  Mr.  King,  Mr.  Patrick 
Henry,  Mr.  Pinckney,  Mr.  Johnson  and  others,  in 
turn,  was  offered  the  position  and  refused  it.  In 
one  of  the  highest  places  under  the  government,  in 
the  administration  with  Washington  at  its  head,  no 
man  of  prominence  dare  risk  his  reputation.  But 
the  difficulty  of  securing  a  competent  man  for  the 
State  Department  was  only  the  beginning  of  Wash 
ington's  trouble  in  reorganizing  his  cabinet. 


JEFFERSON    AND   HAMILTON.  47 

The  vacancy  caused  by  Hamilton's  retirement 
from  the  Treasury  Department  gave  equal  annoy 
ance.  Many  were  called,  but  none  would  come,  and 
the  President  was  at  length  compelled  to  promote  Mr. 
Walcott  from  a  subordinate  position  to  the  head  of 
the  department.  Gen.  Knox  resigned  from  the  War 
Department,  and  after  many  attempts  to  get  a  bet 
ter  man,  Mr.  McHenry  was  appointed.  The  Presi 
dent  was  compelled  to  take  not  only  inferior  men, 
but  could  have  no  choice  in  regard  to  location ; 
they  must  come  from  where  they  could  be  found. 
John  Adams,  the  vice-president,  writing  at  that  time, 
said  :  "  The  sure  reward  of  integrity,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  public  functions,  is  such  obloquy,  contempt 
and  insult,  that  no  man  of  feeling  is  willing  to  re 
nounce  his  home,  forsake  his  property  and  profes 
sion  for  the  sake  of  removing  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  is  almost  sure  of  disgrace  and  ruin."  These  facts, 
more  than  any  words  can  express,  show  how  vicious 
and  venomous  was  the  warfare  waged  against  Wash 
ington's  administration. 

Jefferson's  retirement  from  the  cabinet  was  the 
signal  for  still  more  open  and  relentless  war  upon 
the  administration,  and,  "  the  arrows,  restrained 
within  the  quiver  so  long  as  he  remained  liable  to  be 
hit,  were  now  drawn  forth  and  sharpened  for  use 
even  against  Washington  himself."  On  retiring 
from  office,  Jefferson  announced  his  '•  plan  of  cam 
paign."  It  is  found  in  his  report  of  the  commercial 


48  JEFFERSON    AXD    HAMILTON. 

relations  of  this  country  with  other  countries.  It 
was  a  bold  move  to  overthrow  the  adminiHtration 
and  its  policy  of  neutrality,  and  would  inevitably 
have  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution 
itself.  This  was,  undoubtedly,  the  great  crime  of 
the  Jeffersonian  programme,  the  disastrous  results 
of  which  were  only  avoided  by  the  more  prudent 
counsels  of  Mr.  Madison.  Jefferson's  policy  would 
certainly  have  involved  this  country  in  the  terrible 
contest  then  about  to  begin  between  the  great  Euro 
pean  powers. 

Washington  seldom  or  never  resented,  in  any 
public  manner,  the  attacks  made  upon  himself  or  his 
administration.  The  bitter  persecutions  which  as 
sailed  him  in  the  second  term  of  his  administration 
were  left  unnoticed,  saying  to  a  friend,  "By  the 
records  of  my  administration  and  not  by  the  voice 
ol  faction,  I  expect  to  be  acquitted  or  condemned 
hereafter."  He  knew  that  the  faction  which  so  vic 
iously  assailed  him  was  led  and  controlled  by  Jeffer 
son.  He  knew  that  this  arch  enemy,  among  his 
particular  friends  denounced  the  President  and  his 
administration,  but  he  made  no  murmur  of  com 
plaint.  Emboldened  by  this  silence,  Jefferson  wrote 
the  President  disclaiming  the  authorship  of  some 
charges  then  recently  published.  Washington  ac 
cepted  Jefferson's  denial,  but  closed  his  reply  with 
the  following  paragraph  :  "  To  this  I  may  add,  and 
very  truly,  that,  until  within  the  last  year  or  two,  I 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON.  49 

had  no  conception  that  parties  would  or  even  could 
go  the  length  I  have  been  witness  to;  nor  did  I  be 
lieve  until  lately,  that  it  was  within  the  bounds  of 
probability,  hardly  within  those  of  possibility,  that, 
while  I  was  using  my  utmost  exertions  to  establish 
a  national  character  of  our  own,  independent,  as  far 
as  our  obligations  and  justice  would  permit,  of  every 
nation  of  the  earth;  and  wished  by  steering  a  steady 
course,  to  preserve  this  country  from  the  horrors  of 
a  desolating  war,  I  should  be  accused  of  being  the 
enemy  of  one  nation  and  subject  to  the  influence  of 
another;  and,  to  prove  it.  that  every  act  of  my  ad 
ministration  would  be  tortured,  and  the  grossest 
and  most  insidious  misrepresentations  of  them  be 
made,  by  giving  one  side  only  of  a  subject,  and  that 
too  in  such  exaggerated  and  indecent  terms  as  could 
scarcely  be  applied  to  a  Nero,  a  notorious  defaulter, 
or.  even  to  a  common  pickpocket."  This  closed  all 
correspondence  between  Washington  and  Jefferson; 
the  repulse  was  complete  and  effective.  Jefferson 
then  knew  how  entirely  Washington  understood 
him  and  how  thoroughly  he  despised  him. 

It  is  difficult  at  this  day  to  understand  the  feeling 
which  prompted  this  deliberate  and  persistent  at 
tempt  to  overthrow  this  first  administration  of  our 
government,  the  trial  administration  under  the 
constitution,  indeed  the  test  of  the  constitution 
itself.  Its  failure  would  have  destroyed  all  hope  of 
a  permanent  union  and  a  successful  republic.  The 


50  JEFFERSON  AND  HAMILTON. 

administration  should  have  been  sustained  even  if  its 
errors  were  many  and  great.  It  should  have  been 
remembered  that  it  was  a  test  of  man's  capacity  for 
self-government  under  a  republican  constitution,  and 
it  should  not  have  been  forgotten  that  there  were  no 
precedents  to  guide  its  action,  for  there  had  been 
nothing  in  all  the  past  like  the  government  just  or 
ganized,  nothing  in  ancient  or  modern  times  with 
which  it  could  be  compared.  It  was  then  the  patri 
otic  duty  of  every  liberty-loving  citizen  to  rally  to 
its  support,  that  a  government  by  the  people  should 
be  maintained.  But  Washington's  mistakes  were 
neither  many  nor  great.  Considering  the  difficulties 
which  confronted  him,  and  the  dangers  which  sur 
rounded  him,  seldom,  if  ever,  has  greater  wisdom  or 
sounder  judgment  been  displayed  in  government, 
than  was  shown  by  the  first  President  of  this  Ee- 
public.  The  furkms  opposition  which  so  unceasingly 
assailed  him  was  neither  wise  nor  patriotic,  and  was 
entirely  without  excuse  or  reasonable  pretext.  The 
triumph  of  Washington  over  this  opposition  saved 
the  Republic,  and  gave  greater  proof  of  genius  as  a 
statesman  than  the  grandest  victories  in  the  field  of 
war  ever  gained  for  him  as  a  general.  Great  as  he 
was  in  the  camp,  he  was  far  greater  in  the  cabinet. 
What  Jefferson  had  been  to  the  administration 
of  Washington,  Hamilton  became  to  the  succeeding 
administration  of  John  Adams,  only  that  Jefferson 
fought  out  in  the  open  field  and  Hamilton  from  am- 


JEFFERSON  AND  HAMILTON.  51 

bush.  There  is  no  question  of  Hamilton's  superior 
ability  as  a  statesman.  As  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
no  successor  has  equaled  him.  Upon  this  his  fame 
is  enduringly  founded.  But  Hamilton's  statesman 
ship  failed  in  its  higher  aspirations,  not  from  lack  of 
ability,  but  from  lack  of  a  proper  field  of  exertion. 
He  was  not  a  democrat;  he  had  no  confidence  in  the 
people,  or  in  a  government  by  the  people.  He  did 
not  believe  any  people  anywhere  was  capable  of  self- 
government.  He  was  all  the  time  hampered  by  con 
ditions  he  disapproved  and  by  restraints  which  an 
noyed  him.  Had  he  lived  in  England,  dealing  with 
monarchical  institutions,  his  genius  would  have 
illumined  the  brightest  period  of  British  statesman 
ship.  But  to  found  a  government  upon  republican 
principles,  where  the  people  should  be  sovereign, 
was  a  work  in  which  he  had  no  heart;  he  could  en 
gage  in  it  with  no  hope  of  success,  with  no  spirit  of 
enthusiasm. 

As  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  he 
was  in  constant  irritation  with  its  discussions,  and 
his  absence  from  its  sessions  was  more  frequent  than 
his  presence.  He  regarded  its  conclusions  almost 
with  dismay  and  gave  his  assent  only  from  the  stern 
est  necessity.  Yet  with  this  view  of  the  constitution 
he  wrote  a  series  of  articles  in  favor  of  its  adoption 
by  the  people,  the  most  remarkable  in  strength  of 
reasoning  ever  produced  in  any  country  or  at  any 
time.  The  younger  Adams  said  :  "  Our  constitu- 


52  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

tion  was  extorted  from  the  grinding  necessities  of  a 
reluctant  people."  He  might  well  have  added,  that 
to  produce  this  result,  never  before  had  eloquence 
so  commanding  or  argument  so  conclusive  been  ex 
torted  from  the  necessities  of  a  reluctant  statesman. 

Brilliant  as  he  was  as  a  statesman,  it  is  no  in 
justice  to  Hamilton  to  say  that  as  a  politician  he  was 
a  failure.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  the  people 
and  they  had  none  for  him.  He  never  once  held 
position  through  popular  appointment.  His  official 
duties  were  discharged  with  consummate  ability, 
strict  integrity,  and  with  most  beneficial  results  to 
the  country.  Out  of  office  his  political  action  was 
almost  always  unfortunate,  resulting  in  discredit  to 
himself  and  disaster  to  his  party.  One  of  his  warmest 
political  and  personal  friends  pronounced  him  "  indis 
creet,  vain  and  opinionated."  These  faults  led  him 
into  many  questionable  schemes  from  which  his  rep 
utation  suffered.  His  intrigues  with  the  members 
of  the  cabinet  of  John  Adams,  for  the  purpose  of 
thwarting  the  policy  of  the  administration,  and  his 
personal  attack  upon  the  President  to  defeat  his  re 
election,  are  evidences  of  something  more  discredit 
ing  than  indiscretion  or  vanity,  and  produced 
results  most  serious  to  the  administration  and  fatal 
to  the  Federal  party. 

In  speaking  of  these  and  other  moral  and  politi 
cal  delinquencies  in  Hamilton,  Charles  Francis  Ad 
ams,  in  his  biography  of  John  Adams,  says  their 


\y 


JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON.  53 

source  "  Is  to  be  traced  to  a  deficiency  in  early  moral 
foundations,  the  effect  of  which,  here  and  there, 
make  themselves  visible,  breaking  out  of  the  folds  of 
a  noble  nature,  throughout  his  career,  but  especially 
toward  its  close.  It  was  this  which  substituted  the 
false  idol  of  honor,  as  worshipped  in  the  society  of 
his  day  for  the  eternal  law  of  God ;  which  led  him  to 
justify  himself  against  a  charge  of  peculation  of  the 
public  money  at  the  expense  of  a  public  confession, 
of  what  to  him  seemed  the  more  venial  sin  of  aiding 
to  destroy  an  immortal  soul ;  which  led  him  into  the 
clandestine  relations  with  the  cabinet  officers  of  Mr. 
Adams,  and  the  ultimate  breach  of  confidence  he 
made  such  awkward  attempts  to  hide,  and  that  ap 
plication  to  the  upright  John  Jay,  marked  by  the 
latter  with  so  significant  a  condemnation." 

Sad  as  was  the  close  of  his  life,  his  death  and  the 
manner  of  it  went  far  toward  restoring  Hamilton  to 
the  high  position  in  public  estimation  he  had  so  . 
largely  forfeited.  In  the  loss  of  their  most  brilliant 
member,  the  enmity  of  the  greater  portion  of  his 
party  was  forgotten,  while  political  opponents,  under 
direction  of  a  malignant  leader,  in  a  desire  to  dis 
grace  his  antagonist,  joined  loudly  in  the  acclaim  for 
-Hamilton.  This  was  largely  the  result  of  political 
feeling,  which  for  a  time  obscured  his  faults  and 
exalted  his  better  nature.  It  was  not  based  upon 
the  whole  or  the  true  character.  The  illustration 
applied  to  Franklin  may  well,  also,  be  applied  to 


54  JEFFERSON   AND   HAMILTON. 

Hamilton.  uThe  temple  of  human  nature  has  frw 
great  apartments  —  the  intellectual  and  the  moral. 
If  there  is  not  a  mutual  friendship  and  strict  alliance 
between  these,  degradation  to  the  whole  building 
must  be  the  consequence.  There  may  be  blots  on 
the  disk  of  the  most  refulgent  luminary,  almost 
sufficient  to  eclipse  it.  And  it  is  of  great  importance 
to  the  rising  generation  in  this  country  that  they  be 
put  upon  their  guard  against  being  dazzled  by  the 
surrounding  blaze  into  an  idolatry  of  the  spots." 


CHAPTER  III. 


BURR  AND  HAMILTON. 


The  New  York  Election  — Burr's  Careful  Preparation  —  Burr's  Success 
—  Chagrin  of  Hamilton  — His  Dishonest  Proposal  to  Gov.  Jay.  who 
Rejects  the  Proposition  —  Jefferson  and  Burr  have  Equal  Vote  — 
Election  Referred  to  Congress  —  Burr's  Refusal  to  Treat  with  Feder 
alists—Jefferson  Elected  President  — Burr  Vice-President. 


- 

His  senatoral  term  gave  Burr  a  taste  for  politics 
and  creat^L-a»-^ariirbition  for  political  honors.  He 
found,  on  retiring  from  the  senate,  the  Republican 
party  was  strong  in  numbers,  but  without  unity,  with 
out  concert  of  action,  and  without  proper  organization 
—  a  mere  mob.  He  resolved  to  organize  this  party,  to 
give  it  discipline,  and  to  prepare  it  for  victory.  The 
last  election  showed  that  the  Southern  States  were 
reliably  Republican,  that  the  New  England  States 
were  as  reliably  Federal.  ThaJ^victory,  if  achieved, 
must  come  through  a  political  revolution  of  his  own 
State  of  New  York,  which,  under  the  brilliant  lead 
ership  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  was  strongly  Federal. 
This  was  the  work  Burr  set  for  himself.  It  was 
thought  to  be  impossible.  Even  Jefferson  wrote  him 

(55) 


50  BURR   AND  HAMILTON. 

in  discouragement.  But  he  would  not  be  discour 
aged.  He  knew  his  own  powers.  He  had  faith  in 
himself.  It  was  the  presidential  election  of  1800, 
and  the  contest  was  for  members  of  the  legislature, 
which  appointed  the  presidential  electors.  The  can 
vass  was  the  most  bitter  known  to  the  politics  of 
this  country.  It  was  a  hand-to-hand  fight  between 
Hamilton  and  Burr,  with  all  the  advantages  with 
Harniltoiw 

Burr  had  commenced  preparations  for  this  con 
test  soon  after  he  retired  from  the  senate,  in  1797. 
He  had  not  then  taken  part  in  any  political  cam 
paign  outside  the  city  of  New  York,  and  had  little 
acquaintance  with  the  people  of  the  state  at  large. 
He  must,  therefore,  become  acquainted  with  the 
eople  of  the  state.  His  first  move  was  to  have 
himself  elected  to  the  legislature.  Here  he  came  in 
contact  with  the  representatives  c*'  *he  people  from 
all  the  counties.  The  greater  pornon  of  the  state 
was  at  that  time  new  and  peopled  with  its  early 
pioneers.  They  did  not  have  the  advantages  of  city 
life;  they  did  not  have  the  advantages  of  schools, 
nor  the  polish  of  refined  society.  Their  represent 
atives  did  not  make  much  show  in  the  halls  of 
legislation.  But  they  were  men  of  influence  at 
home;  they  were  the  leading  men  of  their  counties. 
Their  Federal  fellow  members  neglected  them,  some 
times  treating  them  with  disdain.  Here  was  a  great 
field  for  Burr  to  work.  He  cultivated  their  acquaint- 


BURR   AND   HAMILTON.  57 

ance;  asbisteiLthem  .in  securing  such  legislation  as 
they  wished  for  their  localities.  He  prepared  their 
bills  and  advocated  them.  He  gratified  their  pride 
by  making  many  prominent  in  the  assembly.  He 
would  prepare  some  measure  of  importance  and  get 
a  country  member  to  present  it  as  his  own.  iln  this 
way  he  gained  the  friendship  and  support  of  leading 
men  in  every  part  of  the  state.  4le  was  laying  the 
foundation  of  party  success,  and  he  was  making  it 
solid  and  substantial^ 

In  this  manner  he  brought  to  the  support  of  the 
Eepublican  party,  and  to  his  own  leadership,  great 
numbers  of  the  voters  of  western  and  northern  New 
York.  So  well  had  he  prepared  for  the  contest  in 
1800,  that  when  the  time  came  for  that  election  he 
had  confined  the  result  in  the  state  to  the  result  in 
the  city. "  TT  the  city  could  be  carried  the  state 
wouldTbe  Repiiblican.  But  New  York  city  had 
given  nine  hundred  Federal  majority  at  the  last 
election,  and  that  was  a  large  majority  for  a  city 
of  its  size.  Burr  had  prepared  for  this  desperate 
fight  with  a  determinatiaa-tflLwin .  The  election  was 
for  the  legislature,  which  would  choose  the  presi 
dential  electors.  Burr  fully  appreciated  the  import 
ance  of  a  -Strong-  ticket,  and  he  selected  with  care  a 
ticket  composed  of  the  ablest  and  best  known  men  of 
the  city.  He  placed  at  the  head  of  the  list  George 
Clinton,  who  had  for  many  years  been  Governor  of 
the  State,  followed  by  General  Gates,  Brockholdst 


58  BURR   AND   HAMILTON. 

Livingston,  and  nine  others  of  prominence  and  popu 
larity.  It  seemed  preposterous  to  ask  these  men  to 
stand  for  the  legislature,  and  no  other  man  than  Burr 
would  have  dared  to  do  it.  It  shows  his  extraordi 
nary  powers  of  persuasion  that  he  succeeded  in  ob- 
vs//iaining  their  con  sent.  This  was  a  great  stride,  but 
it  was  only  the  beginning. 

He  caused  lists  to  be  prepared  containing  the 
names  of  all  the  voters  in  the  city.  To  each  name 
was  attached  not  only  the  voter's  opinions,  but  the 
zeal  he  exhibited  in  behalf  of  them,  as  well  as  his 
temperament,  his  health,  his  habits,  which  were  all 
taken  into  account.  Each  voter's  history  was  care 
fully  inquired  into,  whether  industrious  or  indolent, 
as  well  as  his  pecuniary  means.  No  details  were 
lacking.  The  assessment  lists  were  carefully  exam 
ined  by  Burr  and  corrected  by  him.  Striking  out 
the  assessment  against  one,  he  would  say  this  man 
will  work  well  but  will  pay  nothing;  if  we  assess 
him  he  will  take  oftense  and  leave  us.  To  another 
name  he  would  double  the  amount,  saying  this  man 
will  contribute  liberally  if  we  will  excuse  him  from 
work.  Thus  everything  was  done  under  his  own 
eye  and  by  his  own  direction.  The  discipline  he 
introduced  was  something  never  attempted  before. 
Absolute  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  majority  was 
required,  and  that  majority  moved  at  the  command 
of  committees  which  concentrated  all  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  individuals. 


BURR   AND   HAMILTON.  59 

The  election  began  on  the  29th  of  April  and 
lasted  through  three  days.  During  these  days  the 
efforts  of  Burr  and  Hamilton  were  unprecedented. 
All  day  and  late  into  the  night  both  men  worked 
almost  incessantly,  addressing  audiences  in  every 
part  of  the  city.  Sometimes  they  met  upon  the 
same  platform,  always  treating  each  other  with 
courtesy,  but  ever  watchful  for  the  least  advantage. 
Before  either  slept  on  the  third  night  the  result  was 
known,  and  Burr  had  won  by  490  majority.  Thus 
Burr  had  organized  victory  for  the  Eepublicans. 
He  had  given  them  their  first  success,  a  success 
which  lasted  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  for 
years  after  the  Federal  party  had  disappeared  from 
the  political  contentions  of  the  country.  The  result 
was  a  surprise  to  both  parties,  and  was  celebrated 
by  the  Eepublicans  in  every  state  with  the  wildest 
demonstrations  of  rejoicing.  At  that  moment  Burr 
was  the  most  popular  man  in  the  country.  He  was 
even  more  popular  with  Republicans  than  was  Jef 
ferson.  He  had  proved  himself  an  able  party  leader 
He  had,  in  the  language  of  a  well  known  writer, 
"taughTlhe  Republican  party  how  to  conquer." 

Hamilton's  defeat  was  crushing:  his  private  let 
ters  of  that  time  show  how  damaging  was  the  blow 
he  received.  He  threw  the  blame  of  defeat  upon 
Adams,  whom  he  threatened  to  repudiate.  He  could 
not  accept  defeat,  and  to  snatch  the  victory  from  the 
Republicans,  he  proposed  a  scheme  which  shows 


60  BURR  AND  HAMILTON. 

how  low  he  could  descend  in  party  intrigue  for 
party  gain.  The  existing  legislature  was  Federal, 
its  term  did  not  expire  for  six  weeks,  but  its  final 
session xhad  been  held,  and  now  its  successor  was 
elocted\  Hamilton  wrote  a  long  and  pressing  letter 
to  Governor  John  Jay,  urging  him  to  call  the  expir 
ing  legislature  to  meet  in  special  session,  that  it 
might  provide  for  the  election  of  presidential  elec 
tors,  in  advance  of  the  newly  elected  body.  It  was 
a  base  proposition,  intended  to  defeat  the  wishes  of 
the  people.  Governor  Jay  was  a  Federalist,  but  he 
would  not  listen  to  the  suggestion.  He  filed  the 
letter  with  this  endorsement :  "  Proposing  a  measure 
for  party  purposes,  which,  I  think,  it  would  not 
become  me  to  adopt."  Hamilton's  letter,  first  pub 
lished  in  Jay's  Works,  after  his  death,  is  as  follows: 

"You  have  been  informed  of  the  loss  of  our  elec 
tion  in  this  city.  It  is  also  known  that  we  have 
been  unfortunate  throughout  Long  Island  and  in 
Westchester.  According  to  the  returns  hitherto,  it 
is  too  probable  that  we  lose  our  senators  for  this  dis 
trict.  The  moral  certainty,  therefore,  is  that  there 
will  be  an  anti-federal  majority  in  the  ensuing  legis 
lature,  and  the  very  high  probability  is,  that  this 
will  bring  Jefferson  into  the  chief  magistracy,  unless 
it  be  prevented  by  the  measure  which  I  shall  now 
submit  to  your  consideration,  namely,  the  immediate 
calling  together  of  the  existing  legislature. 

"  I  am  aware  that  there  are  weighty  objections 


BURR    AND   HAMILTON.  61 

to  the  measure,  but  the  reasons  tor  it  appear  to  me 
to  outweigh  the  objections;  and  in  times  like  these 
in  which  we  live,  it  will  not  do  to  be  over-scrupu 
lous.  It  is  easy  to  sacrifice  the  substantial  interests 
of  society  by  a  strict  adherence  to  ordinary  rules. 
In  observing  this,  I  shall  not  be  supposed  to  mean 
that  anything  ought  to  be  done  which  integrity  will 
forbid,  but  merely  that  the  scruples  of  delicacy  and 
propriety,  relative  to  a  common  course  of  things, 
ought  to  yield  to  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the 
crisis.  This  ought  not  to  hinder  the  taking  of  a 
legal  and  constitutional  step  to  prevent  an  atheist  in 
religion,  and  a  fanatic  in  politics,  from  getting  pos 
session  of  the  helm  of  state. 

"You,  sir,  know,  in  a  great  degree,  the  anti-fed 
eral  party;  but  I  fear  you  do  not  know  them  as  well 
as  I  do.  It  is  a  composition,  indeed,  of  very  incon 
gruous  material;  but  all  tending  to  mischief — some 
of  them  to  the  overthrow  of  the  government,  by 
stripping  it  of  its  due  energies;  others  of  them  to  a 
revolution,  after  the  manner  of  Bonaparte.  I  speak 
from  indubitable  facts,  not  from  conjectures  and  in 
ferences.  In  proportion  as  the  true  character  of  the 
party  is  understood  is  the  force  of  the  considerations 
which  urge  to  every  effort  to  disappoint  it;  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  a  very  solemn  obligation  to 
employ  the  means  in  our  power. 

"  The  calling  of  the  legislature  will  have  for  its 
object  the  choosing  of  electors  by  the  people  in  dis- 


62  BURR   AND   HAMILTON. 

tricts;  this  (as  Pennsylvania  will  do  nothing)  will 
insure  a  majority  of  votes  in  the  United  States  for  a 
Federal  candidate.  The  measure  will  not  fail  to  be 
approved  by  all  the  Federal  party ;  while  it  will,  no 
doubt,  be  condemned  by  the  opposite.  As  to  its  in 
trinsic  nature,  it  is  justified  by  unequivocal  reasons 
of  public  safety.  The  reasonable  part  of  the  world 
will,  I  believe,  approve  it.  They  will  see  it  as  a 
proceeding  out  of  the  common  course,  but  warranted 
by  the  particular  nature  of  the  crisis,  and  the  great 
cause  of  social  order. 

"  If  done,  the  motive  ought  to  be  frankly  avowed. 
In  your  communication  to  the  legislature,  they  ought 
to  be  told  that  temporary  circumstances  had  ren 
dered  it  probable,  that,  without  their  interposition, 
the  exective  authority  of  the  general  government 
would  be  transferred  to  hands  hostile  to  the  system, 
heretofore  pursued  with  so  much  success;  and  dan 
gerous  to  the  peace,  happiness  and  order  of  the 
country;  that,  under  this  impresssion,  from  facts 
convincing  to  your  own  mind,  you  had  thought  it 
your  duty  to  give  the  existing  legislature  an  oppor 
tunity  of  deliberating,  whether  it  would  not  be 
proper  to  interpose,  and  endeaver  to  prevent  so 
great  an  evil  by  referring  the  choice  of  electors  to 
the  people  distributed  into  districts. 

"  In  weighing  this  suggestion,  you  will  doubtless 
bear  in  mind,  that  popular  governments  must  cer 
tainly  be  overturned;  and,  while  they  endure,  prove 


BURR   AND   HAMILTON.  03 

engines  of  mischief,  if  one  party  will  call  to  its  aid 
all  the  resources  which  vice  can  give,  and  if  the 
other  (however  pressing  the  emergency)  confines 
itself  within  all  the  ordinary  forms  of  delicacy  and 
decorum.  The  legislature  can  be  brought  together 
in  three  weeks,  so  that  there  will  be  full  time  for 
the  object;  but  none  ought  to  be  lost.  Think  well, 
my  dear  sir,  of  this  proposition;  appreciate  the  ex 
treme  danger  of  the  crisis;  and  I  am  unusually  mis 
taken  in  my  view  of  the  matter,  if  you  do  not  see  it 
right  and  expedient  to  adopt  the  measure." 

This  proposition  from  Hamilton  to  Jay,  shame 
ful  and  dishonest  as  it  is,  is  characteristic  of  Hamil-  v 
ton's  political  practices.  He  had  no  scruples  of  con 
science  when  assailing  political  opponents,  and  he 
had  no  epithets  too  strong  with  which  to  denounce 
them.  As  Jefferson  insisted  that  the  federalists 
were  all  monarchists,  so  Hamilton  charged  the  Ke- 
publicans  with  calling  to  their  "  aid  all  the  resources 
which  vice  can  give,"  and  seemed  utterly  uncon 
scious  of  the  baseness  of  the  proposition  he  made  to 
a  virtuous  governor.  Another  characteristic  of 
Hamilton,  exhibited  by  this  letter,  is  his  total  disre 
gard  of  the  people  and  their  rights.  It  mattered 
not  to  him  that  his  proposal  ignored  the  wishes  of 
the  people  as  expressed  at  the  recent  election.  He 
did  not  believe  the  people  were  competent  to  form 
wishes  worth  respecting.  And  never  in  his  wide 
correspondence  did  he  express  any  respect  for  the 


64  BURK    AND   HAMILTON. 

popular  will.  In  the  determined  fight  he  made 
against  Burr  and  in  favor  of  Jefferson,  at  the  con 
gressional  election  in  1801,  never  once  did  he  urge 
the  only  real  reason  why  Jefferson  should  be  pre 
ferred  —  that  the  people  intended  he  should  have  the 
first  place.  He  believed  the  anti-federal  party  a 
composition  of  incongruous  materials,  "  but  all  tend 
ing  to  mischief,"  and,  therefore,  no  act  to  defeat  it 
could  be  too  base.  What  a  contrast  is  presented  be 
tween  the  views  of  the  honest  governor  and  the  un- 
scpupulous  politician. 

^Burr's  great  personal  popularity  with  his  party, 
greatly  increased  by  his  successful  management  of 
\/  the  election  campaign  in  1800,  clearly  pointed  him 
out  as  the  proper  candidate  for  vice-president  by 
the  Republicans. )  Burr  had  before  received  this 
nomination  from  his  party,  when,  in  the  summer  of 
1796,  before  his  term  of  United  States  senator  had 
expired,  the  first  Republican  caucus  selected  Jeffer 
son  and  Burr  as  the  party  candidates  for  that  year. 
But  now  he  had  won  a  victory  not  only  for  the 
Republicans  of  New  York,  but  for  the  party  in  all 
the  states.  The  enthusiasm  with  which  his  work 
was  received,  and  his  ability  acknowledged,  in  his 
home  city,  is  shown  by  a  letter  from  Commodore 
.lames  Nicholson,  an  active  Republican  of  New  York, 
to  his  son-in-law,  Albert  Gallatin,  written  a  few  days 
after  the  election. 

He  says:     "That  business  has  been   conducted 


BURR    AND   HAMILTON.  65 

and  brought  to  issue  in  so  miraculous  a  manner  that 
I  cannot  account  for  it  but  from  the  intervention  ot 
a  Supreme  Power,  and  our  friend  Burr  the  agent. 
The  particulars  I  have,  since  the  election,  under 
stood,  and  they  justify  my  suspicion.  His  general 
ship,  perseverance,  industry  and  execution  exceed 
all  description,  so  that  I  think  I  can  say  he  deserves 
anything  and  everything  of  his  country.  *  *  *  I 
shall  conclude  by  recommending  him,  as  a  General, 
far  superior  to  Hamilton,  as  much  as  a  man  is  to  a 
boy."  And,  referring  to  the  selection  of  a  candidate 
for  vice-president,  he  says:  "  George  Clinton,  with 
whom  I  first  spoke,  declined.  He  (Gov.  Clinton) 
thinks  Col.  Burr  is  the  most  suitable  person,  and 
perhaps  the  only  man  for  candidate  for  vice-presi 
dent.  Such  is,  also,  the  opinion  of  all  Republicans 
in  this  quarter  that  I  have  conversed  with  ;  their  con 
fidence  in  Aaron  Burr  is  universal  and  unbounded." 
Not  only  in  New  York,  but  throughout  the 
United  States,  the  eyes  of  all  Republicans  were  upon 
Colonel  Burr  as  the  proper  associate  with  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  upon  the  Republican  presidential  ticket.  In 
nearly  every  state  Republican  meetings  were  held, 
at  which  resolutions  of  thanks  were  adopted,  and 
speeches  in  praise  of  Colonel  Burr  were  made,  for 
the  great  ability  he  displayed  in  the  management  of 
the  Now  York  election.  Full  credit  for  unexpected 
success  was  awarded  him,  and  without  the  interven 
tion  of  caucus  or  convention,  he  was  made  the  party 


66  BURR   AND   HAMILTON. 

candidate  for  vice-president.  This  great  popularity 
was  made  still  more  manifest  when  in  the  electoral 
colleges  he  received  the  vote  of  every  Eepublican 
elector,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  one,  making  his 
vote  exactly  equal  with  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

In  the  electoral  colleges  Jefferson  and  Burr  each 
received  73  votes,  a  larger  vote  than  any  other 
candidate  received.  But  their  vote  was  a  tie,  and 
neither  was  elected  president.  Under  the  Constitu 
tion  at  that  time  each  elector  placed  two  names 
upon  his  ticket ;  the  one  receiving  the  highest  vote 
became  president,  the  next  highest  vice-president. 
But  here  was  an  equal  vote,  and  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  must  decide  between  them.  The  House 
was  Federal,  but  the  vote  must  be  by  states,  and  the 
division  of  states  was  uncertain.  The  Federalists 
determined  to  defeat  Jefferson  and  elect  Burr  presi 
dent.  But  Burr  peremptorily  declined  any  contest 
for  the  first  place,  and  refused  even  to  listen  to  the 
propositions  of  the  Federalists.  On  the  first  ballot 
Jefferson  received  the  votes  of  8  states,  Burr  6,  and 
two  voted  in  blank.  For  seven  days  they  continued 
in  session  without  result,  until,  on  the  36th  ballot, 
two  states  withdrew  their  opposition  to  Jefferson 
and  elected  him.  Burr's  integrity  in  this  matter 
was  tested  to  the  utmost,  and  stood  the  test  without 
a  blemish.  Under  the  most  trying  circumstances  he 
proved  true  to  his  chief  and  loyal  to  his  party.  He 
had,  unaided  and  alone,  organized  victory  for  the 


BURR   AND   HAMILTON.  67 

Republican  party,  and  won  the  battle  which  made 
Jefferson  president. 

ThlTtie~vote  in  the  electoral  colleges  between  Jef 
ferson  and  Burr  sent  the  election  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  there  to  be  decided  which  should  be 
president,  the  other  to  be  vice-president.  A  ma 
jority  of  the  members  of  the  House  was  Federal,  but 
the  vote  was  to  be  taken  by  states,  each  state  having 
one  vote,  determined  by  its  delegation.  There  was 
a  disposition,  manifested  from  the  first,  on  the  part 
of  the  Federalists,  to  vote  for  Burr  to  defeat  Jeffer 
son.  This  intention  was  vigorously  combated  by 
Hamilton.  JvTeyer  perhaps  in  his  life  did  he  labor 
more  earnestly  to  effect  a  purpose  than  in  this-jeffort 
to^dissuade  the  Federalists  from  supportmg^Burr. 
Efe  wrote  vigorous  and  voluminous  letters  to  leading 
men  of  his  party  denouncing  Burr  in  character,  in 
conduct,  and  in  fame.  But  never  once  did  he  point 
out  any  specific  act  or  word  of  Burr's  to  sustain  his 
charges. 

He~argtied,  entreated  and  implored  them  to  aban- 
jrm  TEn^T*  flj^j  vote  for  Jefferson^  but  ontrontrrl  find 
implored  in  vain.  Of  the  fifty-six  Federalists  in  the 
House  but  one  on  any  ballot,  even  the  final  one, 
voted  tor  .lefferson.  This  overwhelming  preference 
for  Burr,  on  the  part  of  the  Federalists,  and  their 
utter  disregard  of  Hamilton's  pleadings,  is  the  strong 
est  possible  evidence  to  prove  they  did  not  believe 
the  character  he  gave  Burr  was  the  true  one.  The 


68  BURR  AND  HAMILTON. 

Federal  party  of  that  day  was  composed  largely  of 
the  best  and  purest  men  of  the  country.  Men  of  in 
telligence,  of  integrity  and  of  patriotism.  Men  who 
would  not  have  given  support  to  an  unprincipled 
and  corrupt  man  for  any  position,  much  less  for  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States.  The  fact  that  they 
did,  with  practical  unanimity,  support  Burr,  in  the 
face  of  Hamilton's  opposition,  of  itself  proves  they 
did  not  believe  Burr  was  a  corrupt  or  unprincipled 
man.  Indeed  they  placed  their  support  of  him  on 
grounds  which  imply  their  confidence  in  his  honesty. 
Sedgwick  writes  to  Hamilton  that  the  Federalists 
prefer  and  support  Burr  because  they  believe  "he 
holds  no  pernicious  theories,  and  is  a  mere  matter- 
of-fact  man."  This  shows  they  had  no  faith  in  Ham 
ilton's  wild  and  unproven  charges. 

Mr.  Bayard  in  his  report  to  Hamilton  of  his  own 
part  in  the  election  proceedings,  says:  "The  means 
existed  of  electing  Burr,  but  this  required  his  co 
operation  ;"  failing  to  receive  this  he  turned  to  Jef 
ferson,  with  what  success  will  be  shown.  A  careful 
study  of  the  whole  proceedings  shows  that  of  the 
fifty-six  Federalists  in  the  House,  there  were  only 
four  who  were  willing  to  put  the  presidency  up  to 
bargain  and  sale  to  either  of  the  candidates.  But 
above  all  else  is  shown  conclusively  the  strict  personal 
integrity,  and  the  strong  party  loyalty  ofAaron  Burr. 
No  man  was  ever  more  severely  tested  than  was  he 
upon  this  occasion.  The  prize  was  the  highest  polit- 


BURR    AND    HAMILTON. 


ical  position  to  which  the  most  unbounded  ambition 
could  aspire.  It  required  but  one  word  to  attain 
it,  and  to  attain  it  without  the  violation  of  consti 
tutional  form  or  of  any  legal  enactment.  It  would 
have  been  approved  by  the  great  body  of  the  people 
with  rejoicing,  and  with  murmurs  by  only  a  faction. 
Disloyalty  to  his  party  chief  would  have  been  the 
only  wrong  committed.  But  rather  than  do  that" 
wrong,  Burr  put  aside  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States.  No  instance  can  be  named  in  history  which 
shows  more  unyielding  integrity,  more  deference  to 
the  will  of  the  people,  or  more  unselfish  devotion  to 
the  party  of  his  convictions. 

This  supreme  act  of  unselfishness  on  the  part  of 
Burr,  is  in  strict  accord  with  the  announcement  he 
made  in  his  letter  to  General  Smith  in  the  preceding 
December.  He  then  knew  of  the  equal  vote  for  Jef 
ferson  and  himself  for  the  presidency,  but  he  knew 
the  people  had  intended  that  Jefferson  should  be 
president,  and  he  then  declared  the  people's  will 
should  prevail  and  disclaimed  all  competition.  Never 
for  a  moment  did  he  waver  in  this  resolution  ;  the % 
people's  wishes  must  be  obeyed  ;  he  freely  submitted 
to  their  decision.  In  what  sharp  contrast  is  this 
action  of  Burr  and  that  of  Hamilton  in  opposing  him? 
In  all  the  scores  of  letters  Hamilton  wrote  to  his 

Person  rather 
referred  to 
mt  the 


70  BURR   AND   HAMILTON. 

question  upon  its  proper  ground,  and  urged  that  Jef 
ferson  should  be  preferred  because  such  was  the 
people's  intention. 

Hamilton  did  not  prefer  Jefferson  because  he 
thought  him  a  man  of  greater  integrity  than  Burr. 
On  the  contrary,  he  believed  that  Jefferson  would 
be  more  open  to  approach,  more  ready  to  buy  the 
Federal  support,  and  would  pay  a  better  price.  The 
tie  was  scarcely  announced,  the  Federal  opportunity 
hardly  known,  when  Hamilton  rushed  to  the  front 
with  a  proposition  to  ignore  Burr  and  buy  Jefferson. 
He  suggests  it  to  Wolcott,  in  a  letter  dated  Decem 
ber  17,  1800,  so  early  that  but  few  even  of  the 
leading  men  knew  a  tie  had  occurred.  He  pressed 
this  purpose  upon  Bayard,  upon  Senator  Eoss,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  other  prominent  Federalists.  He 
made  extravagant  demands  upon  Jefferson  because 
he  knew  he  would  be  willing  to  give  an  extravagant 
price  for  the  presidency.  And  he  was  not  mistaken. 
When  it  was  found  that  Burr  would  not  treat  with 
the  Federalists,  would  not  even  listen  to  their  pro 
posals,  and  Bayard,  at  last  and  with  reluctance, 
turned  his  attention  to  Jefferson,  he  presented  Ham 
ilton's  entire  demand,  and  Jefferson  eagerly  accepted 
it,  without  question  and  without  abatement. 

This  single  fact,  attested  by  the  sworn  statements 
of  James  A.  Bayard  and  General  Samuel  Smith,  the 
two  men,  one  from  each  side,  who  conducted  the 
negotiations,  proves  that  Hamilton's  judgment  in 


BURR   AND  HAMILTON.  71 

this  matter  was  correct — Burr  was  incorruptible, 
Jefferson  was  not.  Jefferson  did  not  care  how  it 
was  managed  so  he  secured  the  prize;  he  did  not 
therefore  hesitate  about  the  price  to  be  paid.  He 
gave  all  the  "  assurances  "  demanded,  and  left  Bayard 
to  execute  his  part  of  the  contract  in  his  own  way. 
It  was  a  contract  repudiated  by  every  Federal 
member  of  congress  except  Bayard  and  his  three 
associates ;  the  great  body  of  the  party  in  congress 
denounced  it  and  continued  to  vote  for  Burr. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  Hamilton  ever  had  any 
real  control  over  the  Federal  party.  He  was  un 
doubtedly  its  most  brilliant  member,  and  his  influ 
ence  with  Washington  was  almost  unlimited,  but  he 
never  was  a  favorite  with  the  great  body  of  the 
party.  In  New  England,  where  Federalism  was 
strongest,  his  personal  following  was  very  small. 
While  his  ambition  led  him  to  seek  the  highest  posi 
tion,  his  jealousy  caused  him  to  regard  all  who  were 
preferred  before  him  as  personal  enemies.  It  was  a 
bitter  disappointment  to  him  that  Adams  was  selec 
ted  to  succeed  Washington,  with  scarcely  a  decent 
consideration  of  his  own  claims.  He  never  forgave 
Adams,  but  resorted  to  inexcusable  intrigue  to  ruin 
his  administration  and  defeat  his  re-election.  The 
utter  and  almost  unanimous  rejection  of  his  advice 
to  the  members  of  the  party  in  congress,  to  oppose 
the  election  of  Burr,  was  perhaps  the  keenest  disap- 


72  BURR    AND   HAMILTON. 

pointment  of  his  political  life:  it  proved  conclusively 
the  trail  hold  he  had  on  his  party's  confidence. 

It  left  him  in  a  state  of  despondency,  and  a  more 
trifling  evidence  of  a  lack  of  authority,  soon  after, 
called  from  him  a  despairing  letter  to  Gouverneur 
Morris,  in  which  he  said :  "  Mine  is  an  odd  destiny. 
Perhaps  no  man  in  the  United  States  has  sacrificed 
or  done  more  for  the  present  constitution  than  my 
self;  and  contrary  to  all  my  anticipations  of  its  fate, 
as  you  know,  from  the  very  beginning.  I  am  still 
laboring  to  prop  the  frail  and  worthless  fabric.  Yet 
I  have  the  murmurs  of  its  friends,  no  less  than  the 
curses  of  its  foes,  for  my  reward.  What  can  I  do 
better  than  withdraw  from  the  scene  ?  Every  day 
proves  to  mo  more  and  more  that  this  American 
world  was  not  made  for  me."  And  in  closing  adds: 
"You,  friend  Morris,  are  by  birth  a  native  of  this 
country,  but  by  genius  an  exotic.  You  mistake  if 
you  fancy  that  you  are  more  a  favorite  than  myself, 
or  that  you  are,  in  any  sort,  upon  a  theatre  suited 
to  you."  When  this  letter  was  written  — 1802  — 
Hamilton  had  no  faith  in  the  perpetuity  of  the  "frail 
and  worthless"  constitution,  or  the  intelligence  of 
the  people  among  whom  genius  existed  only  as  a 
rare  exotic.  With  such  convictions  it  is  not  a  won 
der  he  never  was  a  popular  favorite.  With  all  the 
grandeur  of  his  genius,  he  owed  high  preferment 
almost  solely  to  the  friendship  of  Washington. 


BURR    AND   HAMILTON.  73 

Hamilton's  antipathy  for  Burr  began  with  the  v 
election  of  Burr  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  1791. 
General  Schrryter,  Hamilton's  father-in-law,  and 
Rut  us  King  were  the  first  United  States  Senators 
elected  from  Xew  York  ;  Schuyler  drew  the  short 
term  of  two  years.  It  was  supposed,  without  doubt, 
he  would  be  re-elected  at  the  end  of  his  term  in 
1791.  His  high  character,  his  known  integrity,  his 
important  services  during  the  war  of  the  JRevolu- 
tion,  all  demanded  his  re-election.  There  was  in 
deed  no  opposing  candidate  named  or  known.  Sen 
ators  were  then  elected  by  the  legislature,  and  by 
an  aye  and  nay  vote,  in  the  same  manner  that  bills 
were  passed.  Schuyler's  name  was  presented,  the 
vote  was  taken,  and  the  nays  predominated  in  both 
houses.  Schuyler  was  defeated.  There  was  general 
surprise;  the  members  themselves  seemed  astounded. 
There  had  been  no  opposition  announced,  and  none 
was  expected.  No  other  candidate  had  been  sug 
gested,  and  no  one  knew  who  now  to  turn  fo  Fjjv^ 
ally  a  senator  suggested  Aaron  Burr.  A  vote  was 
taken  in  the  senate,  resulting  ayes  12,  nays  4.  As 
soon  as  this  action  was  known  in  the  house,  that 
body  also  voted  on  Burr,  who  received  a  majority  of 
five  votes,  and  was  declared  duly  elected. 

""While  this  result  gave  general  satisfaction,  it  was 
bitterly  resented  by  Schuyler's  personal  friends. 
Hamilton,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  needed  a  confidential  friend  in  the  senate,  was  ,; 


74  BURR   AXD   HAMILTON. 

greatly  hurt,  and  believed  the  election  had  been 
brought  about  by  intrigue  on  the  part  of  Burr. 
This  was  denied  by  all  the  members  of  the  legisla- 

,  ture,  but  in  Hamilton's  heart  was  implanted  a  bit 
terness  against  Burr  which  was  never  removed.  He 
then  entered  upon  a  secret  and  persistent  course  of 

»   detraction  against  Burr,  which  ended  only  with  his 

\  life,  and  this  was  so  artfully  pursued  that  almost  to 

\  the  end  Burr  .did  not  suspect  it. 

By  their  neighbor^  and  associates  in  the  city, 
during  this  whole  period,  they  were  regarded  as  per 
sonal  friends,  differing  only  in  their  political  contests. 
Their  families  were  on  terms  of  intimate  social  inter 
course;  the  gentlemen  dined  frequently  at  each  other's 
table,  met  often  in  society,  and  at  short  intervals  in 
professional  consultation.  No  suspicion  was  ever 
entertained  by  those  among  whom  they  mingled, 
that  any  feeling  existed  between  them  beyond  that 
of  friendly  political  and  professional  rivalry.  With 
Burr  this  was  true,  with  Hamilton  it  was  rank  du 
plicity.  At  that  time  this  could  not  be  known;  it 
only  became  possible  to  know  the  real  feelings  of 
each  since  the  publication  of  their  private  corres 
pondence.  In  Burr's  not  one  word  in  depreciation 
of  Hamilton  can  be  found,  while  Hamilton's  corres 
pondence  shows  a  steady  stream  of  detraction  of 
/Burr,  for  many  years.  It  will  be  impossible  in  this 
volume  to  follow  this  stream  from  its  source  to  its 


BURR   AND   HAMILTON.  75 

final  and  fatal  termination.     A  lew  examples  of  its 
tortuous  course  is  all  that  can  be  given. 

That  Hamilton  did  not  possess  a  high  sense  of 
the  proprieties  of  social  intercourse  is  shown  by  his 
own  statement.  Jefferson  has  been  severely  and 
justly  censured  for  noting  down  the  conversation 
of  guests  at  his  own  table,  to  be  used  afterwards 
to  their  injury.  Hamilton  was  guilty  in  the  same 
line,  only  that  it  was  his  host's  words  he  repeated  to 
do  him  hurt.  In  the  free  and  friendly  intercourse 
of  a  private  dinner,  there  is  a  rule  observed  by  all 
honorable  men,  that  the  conversation  and  occur 
rences  are  not  to  be  divulged  in  any  way  to  the  detri 
ment  of  the  guests.  This  rule  is  still  more  strictly 
binding  upon  the  guest  toward  the  host,  who  has  in 
a  spirit  of  friendship  invited  him  to  his  table.  Ham 
ilton  did  not  observe  this  rule,  so  generally  adhered 
to  by  all  men  entitled  to  be  called  gentlemen.  A 
single  instance  recorded  by  his  son  in  his  biography 
of  his  father,  shows  Hamilton's  disregard  of  the  pro 
prieties  of  social  life.  In  writing  to  a  friend  in  dis 
paragement  of  Burr,  he  says:  "A  recent  incident 
will  give  you  an  idea  of  his  views  as  to  foreign  politics. 
I  dined  with  him  lately ;  his  toasts  were,  '  The  French 
Republic,'  '  The  commissioners  who  negotiated  the 
convention,'  'Bonaparte,1  -The  Marquis  LaFayette.' 
His  doctrine  is,  that  it  would  be  the  interest  of  this 
country  to  permit  the  indiscriminate  sale  of  prizes  by 
the  belligerent  powers,  and  the  building  and  equip- 


76  BURR   AND   HAMILTON. 

ment  of  vessels ;  a  project  amounting  to  nothing 
more  nor  less  (with  the  semblance  of  equality)  than 
to  turn  all  our  naval  resources  into  the  channel  of 
Prance,  and  compel  Great  Britain  to  war.  Indeed, 
Mr.  Burr  must  have  war,  as  the  instrument  of  his 
ambition  and  cupidity.  The  peculiarity  of  the  occa 
sion  will  excuse  my  mentioning,  in  confidence,  the 
occurrences  of  a  private  table."  This  was  repeated 
in  the  same  confidence -to  several  other  parties. 


CHAPTER  IY. 


HAMILTON  AND  JEFFERSON. 


Secret  Detraction  of  Burr— Hamilton's  Method  — Judge  Marshall's 
Reply  — Hamilton's  Duplicity-  Hamilton's  Attack  on  Adams  — 
Intrigue  Against  Adams  — The  Three  Ministers  — Disastrous  Re 
sults—Loss  of  Popularity —  The  Virginia  Junto  — Conspiracy 
Against  Burr  — Clinton  and  Hamilton  join  Jefterson  — Correspond 
ence— Burr  and  the  Cabinet—  Jefferson's  Friendliness  — Compli 
ments  Burr. 


At  the  second  election  for  the  presidency  John 
Adams  was  again  the  candidate  of  the  Federalists 
tor  vice  president.  The  anti- federalists  were  not 
united  upon  a  candidate  in  opposition  to  Adams. 
Clinton,  Jefferson  and  Burr  were  generally  named 
as  those  from  whom  the  selection  would  be  made. 
Eut'us  King  writes  to  Hamilton,  under  date  of  Sep 
tember  17.  1792,  saying:  u  If  the  enemies  of  the 
government  are  secret  and  united,  we  shall  lose  Mr. 
Adams.  Burr  is  industrious  in  his  canvass,  and  his 
object  is  well  understood  by  our  antics.  Mr.  Ed 
wards  is  to  make  interest  for  him  in  Connecticut, 
and  Mr.  Dallas,  who  is  here,  and  quite  in  the  circle 
of  the  governor  and  the  party,  informs  us  that  Mr. 
Burr  will  be  supported  as  vice-president  in  Penn- 

(77) 


78  HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON. 

sylvania."  Burr  was  at  that  early  day  sufficiently 
prominent  and  respected  by  his  party  to  be  thus 
freely  discussed  as  a  probable  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency.  This  was  in  the  second  year  of  his  sena- 
torship.  Clinton,  however,  became  the  regular  party 
candidate.  This  letter  from  King  greatly  alarmed 
Hamilton,  who  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  Burr 
outstripping  himself  in  political  honors. 

Hamilton  began  at  once  a  secret  system  of  under 
mining  Burr's  reputation  with  leading  men  of  the 
country.  Four  days  after  the  date  of  King's  letter, 
he  writes  to  a  friend  (unnamed  by  the^jeditor  of  his 
works),  and  referring  to  Burr,  says:\  "I  fear  the 
other  gentleman  is  unprincipled,  both  as  a  public  and 
a  private  man.  When  the  constitution  was  in  delib 
eration  his  conduct  was  equivocal ;  but  its  enemies, 
who,  I  believe,  best  understood  him,  considered  him 
with  them.  In  fact,  I  take  it  he  is  for  or  against 
nothing,  but  as  it  suits  his  interest  or  ambition.  He 
is  determined,  as  I  conceive,  to  make  his  way  to  be 
the  head  of  the  popular  party,  and  to  climb,  per  fas 
aut  nefas,  to  the  highest  honors  of  the  state,  and  as 
much  higher  as  circumstances  may  permit.  Embar 
rassed,  as  I  understand,  in  his  circumstances,  with 
an  extravagant  family,  bold,  enterprising,  and  in 
triguing,  I  am  mistaken  if  it  be  not  his  object  to  play 
the  game  of  confusion,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  a  religious 
duty  to  oppose  his  career."]  In  conclusion  he  says: 
"I  therefore  commit  my~wopinion  to  you  without 


HAMILTON   AND  JEFFERSON.  79 

scruple,  but  in  perfect  confidence.  I  pledge  my  char 
acter  for  discernment,  that  it  is  incumbent  on  every 
good  man  to  resist  the  present  design.  "\ 

Five  days  after  this  last  letter,  he  writes  to  an 


other  unnamed  friend:  ^Mr.  Burr's  integrity  as  an 
individual  is  not  unimpeached.  *  *  *  As  a  public 
man,  he  is  one  of  the  worst  sort.  Secretly  turning 
liberty  into  ridicule,  he  knows  as  well  as  most  men 
how  to  make  use  of  the  name.  In  a  word,  if  we 
have  an  embryo  Caesar  in  the  United  States,  'tis 
Burr/^  These  letters  were  evidently  for  use  in  the 
eastern  states,  and  that  they  were  effective  in  injur 
ing  Burr  is  shown  by  a  reply  received  from  Rufus 
King,  a  few  days  later,  in  which  he  says:  "Care 
has  been  taken  to  put  our  friends  at  the  eastward  on 
their  guard."  That  they  were  untruthful  and  ma 
licious,  Hamilton  himself  furnishes  the  evidence. 
In  less  than  three  week^  on  the  15th  of  October,  he 
writes  again  and  saysfx  "My  OPINION  OF  MR.  BURR 
is  YET  TO  FORM,  but  according  to  the  present  state 
of  it,  he  is  a  man  whose  only  political  principle  is  to 
mount,  at  all  events,  to  the  highest  legal  honors  of 
the  nation,  and  as  much  further  as  circumstances 
will  carry  him.  Imputations,  not  favorable  to  his 
integrity  as  a  man,  rest  upon  him,  but  I  do  not  vouch 
for  their  authenticity  '."3  A  short  time  before,  he  gives 
his  "  opinion  without  scruple,"  and  in  the  strongest 
possible  language,  and  pledges  his  "  character  for 
discernment"  to  the  truth  of  it,  and  a  few  days  later 


80  v  HAMILTON    AM)   JEFFERSON. 

declares  he  has  formed  no  opinion,  and  refuses  to 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  his  former  charges  against 
Burr's  integrity.  It  would  be  a  bold  man  who,  with 
this  evidence  before  him,  would  vouch  for  Hamilton's 
sincerity. 

Hamilton's  habit  was  to  write  in  bitter  denuncia 
tion  of  Burr  to  those  who  did  not  personally  know 
him,  but  in  moderate  or  friendly  terms  when  ad 
dressing  men  who  did  know  him.  Where  he  thinks 
he  can  do  harm  and  not  be  betrayed,  his  denuncia 
tions  are  extreme;  where  it  might  become  known  to 
Burr,  he  has  formed  no  opinion. \_Vyhen  Burr  was 
st  commencing  his  public  career,  Hamilton  was 
thus  sowing  the  seeds  of  suspicion  and  prejudice 
against  him  throughout  the  country^  Hamilton  had 
begun  this  system  of  secret  detraction  in  1792,  when 
Burr  was  first  suggested  aa  a  possible  candid ate^for 
i  he  vice-presidency.  Kor  nine  \  ears  In-  runimut'd  to 
assail  Burr7~trut  always  undercover  that  Burr  might 
not  hear  of  it.  His  letters  were  usually  marked 
'•private"  and  his  statements  made  "  confidentially," 
and  sometimes  "very,  very  confidential."  So  fully 
were  his  followers  imbued  with  his  ideas  and  his 
epithets,  that  in  abusing  Burr  they  usually  did  it  in 
Hamilton's  own  words.  Hamilton's  efforts  against 
Burr  culminated  at  the  time  of  the  election  in  1801, 
when  he  made  his  supreme  but  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  induce  the  Federal  members  of  congress  to  vote 
for  Jefferson  and  against  Burr. 


HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON.  81 

He  wrote  not  only  to  the  members  of  congress 
but  to  almost  all  the  leading  Federalists  of  the  coun 
try  with  the  hope  of  bringing  an  outside  pressure 
to  bear  upon  the  congressmen,  and  thus  force  an 
obedience  to  his  wishes.  But  in  this,  too,  he  met 
with  failure,  though  he  poisoned  the  minds  of  many 
honest  men  against  Burr.  Among  those  to  whom 
he  wrote  in  abuse  of  Burr  was  Chief  Justice  John 
Marshall.  Marshall  wrote  in  reply  :  "  Your  repre 
sentation  of  Mr.  Burr,  with  whom  I  am  totally  un 
acquainted,  shows  that  from  him  still  greater  dan 
ger  than  even  from  Jefferson  may  be  apprehended 
Such  a  man  as  you  describe  is  more  to  be  feared 
and  may  do  more  immediate,  if  not  greater,  mischief 
Believing  that  you  know  him  well,  and  are  impar 
tial,  my  preference  would  certainly  not  be  for  him, 
but  I  can  take  no  part  in  this  business."  Judge  Mar 
shall  was  evidently  disgusted  with  Hamilton's  letter. 
His  judicial  mind  saw  at  a  glance  that  Hamilton's 
charges  against  Burr  were  unaccompanied  with  any 
proof,  and  Marshall  always  demanded  the  evidence 
before  conviction.  He  would,  therefore,  have  noth 
ing  to  do  in  the  business. 

While  Hamilton  was  flooding  the  country  with 
liiflTTtMinTTrrnliniiM  Tir  Hnrr,  hrTrflifi  rarfifiil  to  keep 
Burr  inx^prro"!gii»4--TgTiOiciiiLL  01  Ihu  fact.  This  he 
admits,  in  a  letter  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  written  at 
the  same  time  he  had  written  to  Marshall.  In  justi- 
iying  his  support  of  Jefferson,  and  claiming  great 


82  HAMILTON  AND  JEFFJIRSON. 

credit  for  doing  so,  he  says:  \_  "If  there  be  a  man  in 
the  world  I  ought  to  hate,  it  is  JeiEerson,  with  Burr 
I  have  always  been  personally  well.'' _]  He  knew  that 
with  Burr  he  stood  well,  because  he  knew  that  Bun- 
did  not  know  of  the  duplicity  he  had  for  years  been 
practicing  toward  him. 

Hamilton  was  a  loyal  partisan  only  while  he  was 
the  acknowledged  party  leader.  He  believed  him 
self  the  only  proper  person  for  president,  as  Wash 
ington's  successor.  He  was  intensely  jealous  of 
John  Adams,  who  also  had  aspirations  for  that  honor, 
and  when  Adams  was  selected  by  the  party  as  its 
candidate,  he  felt  deeply  wronged,  and  prepared 
himself  to  secretly  figh£  the  new  administration. 
His  personal  influence  over  the  cabinet,  inherited  by 
Adams  from  Washington,  was  almost  unlimited.  He 
was  able  to  array  three  of  the  ministers  against  the 
president,  and  through  these  to  thwart  Mr.  Adams 
in  much  of  his  policy.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
administration,  when  it  was  known  that  Adams 
would  be  a  candidate  for  ^second  term,  his  anxiety 
increased  and  his  opposition  became  more  direct  and 
bitter.  He  wrote  to  a  member  of  congress:  "Were 
I  to  determine  from  my  own  observation,  I  should 
say,  most  of  the  most  influential  men  of  the  Federal 
party  consider  Mr.  Adams  as  a  very  unfit  and  incap 
able  character.  For  my  individual  part,  my  mind 
is  made  up.  I  will  never  more  be  responsible  for 
him  by  any  direct  support,  even  though  the  conse- 


HAMILTON    AND   JEFFERSON.  83 

quence  should  be  the  election  of  Jefferson."  And 
similar  sentiments  were  expressed  to  other  prominent 
members  of  the  Federal  party. 

This  planting  of  tares  between  Adams  and  many 
leading  members  of  his  party,  at  a  time  when  he 
was  the  party  candidate  for  the  presidency,  did  not 
fully  satisfy  Hamilton's  animosity.  Hitherto  he  had 
not  publicly  assailed  the  president,  nor  did  Adams 
know  of  his  warfare  upon  him.  Hamilton's  rivalries, 
especially  with  Adams  and  Burr,  were  never  kept 
within  the  limits  of  defensive,  or  even  moderate, 
warfare,  and  yet  they  were  in  the  main  kept  so 
closely  under  cover  from  the  object  of  attack  that  he 
seldom  knew  he  was  being  attacked.  Hamilton  had 
begun  this  method  of  undermining  those  he  chose  to 
consider  rivals  at  a  very  early  date.  Governor 
Trumbull,  of  Connecticut,  revealed  an  intrigue  of 
Hamilton,  at  the  first  election  of  president,  for  the 
purpose  of  reducing  Adams'  vote,  and,  if  possible, 
defeating  him  for  second  place.  There  was  at  that 
time  no  direct  vote  for  vice-president.  The  electors 
placed  two  names  on  their  tickets  for  president,  the 
one  having  the  highest  number  of  votes,  being  a 
majority  of  all,  became  president,  the  next  highest, 
though  having  only  a  plurality  vote,  became  vice- 
president.  At  this  election,  however,  Washington 
was  in  all  minds  the  sole  candidate  for  president;  his 
name,  it  was  understood,  would  be  upon  every  bal 
lot,  and  the  only  contest  would  be  for  second  place. 


84  HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  method  of  voting,  Hamil 
ton,  with  a  subtleness  and  insincerity  for  which  he 
became  noted  in  after  years,  began  to  express  great 
concern  over  the  uncertain  prospects  of  Washington, 
and  the  brilliant  prospects  of  Adams.  He  sent  word 
to  the  southern  states  that  Adams  was  likely  to  lead 
Washington  at  the  north,  and  to  his  northern  friends 
he  said  Adams  was  certainly  ahead  in  the  south. 
He  therefore  urged  that  a  sufficient  number  of  votes 
be  withheld  from  Adams  to  make  it  certain  that 
Washington  would  receive  the  greater  number. 

The  trick  worked  well ;  to  what  extent  it  reduced 
Adams'  total  vote  is  not  known,  but  it  is  certain  he 
lost  five  votes  in  New  Jersey  and  two  in  Connecticut 
by  this  means.  Trumbull,  in  writing  to  Adams  ex 
plaining  his  loss  of  two  votes  in  Connecticut,  says : 
'•Many  of  your  friends  were  duped  on  this  occasion. 
I  will  inform  you  how  it  was  managed  in  Connecti 
cut.  On  the  day  before  the  election,  Colonel  Webb 
came  on  express  to  Hartford,  sent,  as  he  said,  by 
Colonel  Hamilton,  who,  he  assured  us,  had  made  an 
exact  calculation  on  the  subject,  and  found  that  New 
Jersey  was  to  throw  away  three  votes,  I  think,  and 
Connecticut  two,  and  all  would  be  well.  I  exclaimed 
against  the  measure,  and  insisted  it  was  all  a  de 
ception  :  but  what  could  my  single  opinion  prevail 
against  an  express,  armed  with  intelligence  and  cal 
culations?  So  our  electors  threw  away  two  votes 
where  they  were  sure  they  would  do  no  harm."  In 


HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON.  85 

commenting  on  this  conduct  of  Hamilton,  McMas- 
ters,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  says :  "  It 
admits  of  but  one  explanation.  His  anxiety  for  the 
success  of  Washington  was  assumed.  His  calcula 
tion  was  a  sham.  He  needed  no  calculation." 
Again,  that  he  should  uhave  really  believed  the 
south  would  choose  Adams  and  reject  Washington, 
is  a  supposition  not  to  be  entertained.  The  truth 
seems  to  be,  he  was  bent  on  defeating  Adams,  and 
to  do  this  made  use  of  tricks  and  statements  that 
have  left  a  dark  stain  upon  his  character." 

Hamilton  had,  through  private  and  confidential 
correspondence,  sought  to  influence  local  leaders. 
He  now  projected  a  document  for  circulation  in  par 
ticular  sections,  mainly  in  South  Carolina,  to  be  en 
titled  "An  Examination  of  Adams'  Political  Con 
duct."  He  submitted  the  draft  to  Wolcott  and  asked 
his  opinion  upon  it.  "  What  do  you  say  to  the 
measure,"  said  Hamilton,  "anonymous  publications 
can  now  effect  nothing.  Some  of  the  most  delicate 
of  the  facts  stated  I  hold  from  the  three  ministers, 
yourself  particularly;  and  do  not  think  myself  at 
liberty  to  take  the  step  without  your  consent.  I 
never  mean  to  bring  proof,  but  to  stand  upon  the 
credit  of  my  own  veracity."  Wolcott  was  alarmed : 
some  of  the  delicate  facts  stated  were  cabinet  discus 
sions  and  state  secrets,  which  could  be  betrayed  only 
by  a  cabinet  minister.  Their  publication  would  dis 
close  the  fact  that  there  were  traitors  in  the  cabinet. 


86  HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON. 

Hamilton's  promise  not  to  call  on  "the  three  minis 
ters"  as  witnesses,  was  not  enough  ;  it  would  still 
leave  them  under  suspicion.  Hamilton  was  resolved  ; 
he  argued  that  "  to  suppress  truths,  the  disclosure 
of  which  is  so  interesting  to  the  public  welfare, 
as  well  as  the  vindication  of  myself,  does  not  appear 
to  me  justifiable." 

Mr.  Wolcott  replied  at  much  length,  making 
some  corrections,  and  closing  as  follows :  "  As  to 
the  measure  itself,  I  can  give  no  opinion.  My  feel 
ings  and  individual  judgment  are  in  favor  of  it.  I 
never  liked  the  half-way  plan  which  has  been  pur 
sued.  It  appears  to  me  that  Federal  men  are  in  dan 
ger  of  losing  character  in  the  delicate  point  of  sin 
cerity.  Nevertheless,  when  I  consider  the  degree  of 
support  which  Mr.  Adams  has  already  received ; 
that  our  friends  in  Massachusetts  say  that  they  still 
prefer  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams;  that  the  country 
is  so  divided  and  agitated  as  to  be  in  seme  danger  of 
civil  commotions,  I  cannot  but  feel  doubts  as  to  any 
measure  which  can  possibly  increase  our  divisions. 
You  can  judge  of  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  the 
eastern  slates  better  than  I  can.  If  the  popular 
sentiment  is  strong  in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams,  —  if  the 
people  in  general  approve  of  his  late  public  conduct, 
or  if  there  is  a  want  of  confidence,  for  any  reason, 
in  General  Pinckney,  I  should  think  the  publication 
ought  to  be  suppressed;  on  the  contrary,  if  the  pub 
lication  would  secure  votes  for  General  Pinckney, 


HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON.  87 

and  procure  support  to  him  in  case  he  should  be 
elected,  it  would  certainly  be  beneficial.  Notwith 
standing  your  impression  to  the  contrary,  I  am  not 
convinced  that  Mr.  Adams  can  seriously  injure  your 
character."  This  view  of  the  proposed  measure  is 
certainly  the  correct  one;  Hamilton  may  claim  it 
was  in  vindication  of  himself:  Wolcott  saw  clearly 
it  was  only  an  electioneering  scheme  to  get  votes,  at 
the  expense  of  Adams,  for  Pinckney,  and  that  it 
might  prove  disastrous  to  the  party.  The  result 
showed  Wolcott  was  wiser  than  Hamilton  ;  it  proved 
fatal  to  the  party  and  disastrous  to  Hamilton. 

John  Adams  did  not  know  that  Hamilton  was  so 
bitterly  and  vindictively  opposing  his  election;  he 
did  not  know,  though  he  strongly  suspected,  the 
existence  of  a  conspiracy  in  his  own  cabinet  against 
him.  For  the  confirmation  of  this  suspicion,  he 
was  indebted  to  Aaron  Burr.  Hamilton's  pamphlet, 
which  was  to  defeat  Adams,  was.  as  we  have  seen,  to 
be  printed  confidentially  and  distributed  only  in 
localities  where  it  could  be  made  useful  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  Pinckney  —  mainly  in  the  southern 
states.  Burr  learned  that  the  paper  was  being 
printed  ;  he  at  once  made  arrangements  for  securing 
anjtdvance  copy.  AVhen  obtained,  he  saw  the  advan- 
tage  of  making  it  public.  Copious  extracts  were  ; 
made  and  published  in  the  Eepublican  papers.  The 
bomb  exploded  in  the  Federal  ranks  with  terrific 
effect.  The  excitement  was  intense;  the  bad  faith 


HAMILTON   AND  JEFFERSON. 


of  Hamilton  to  his  party  and  the  party's  candidate 
was  severely  denounced.  Colonel  Troup,  of  New 
York,  writing  to  Kufus  King,  under  date  of  Novem 
ber  9,  1800,  and  referring  to  this  pamphlet  of 
Hamilton,  said:  "The  general  impression  at  Al 
bany  among  our  friends,  was  that  it  would  be 
injurious,  and  they  lamented  the  publication  of  it. 
Upon  my  return  home,  I  find  a  much  stronger  disap 
probation  of  it  expressed  everywhere.  In  point  of 
imprudence  it  is  coupled  with  the  pamphlet  formerly 
published  by  the  General  respecting  himself,  and  not 
a  man  in  the  whole  circle  of  our  friends  but  con 
demns  it.  The  impression  it  has  made  among  our 
friends  in  other  states  I  have  not  yet  learned.  Our 
enemies  are  universally  in  triumph.  I  have  little  or 
no  doubt  the  letter  will  lay  the  foundation  of  a  serious 
opposition  to  General  Hamilton  amongst  the  Feder 
alists,  and  that  his  usefulness  hereafter  will  be  greatly 
lessened.  Noah  Webster  is  open  mouthed  against 
him." 

Again,  on  December  31,  1800,  Colonel  Troup 
writes  to  Mr.  King,  and  says:  "The  influence  of 
this  letter  upon  Hamilton's  character  is  extremely 
unfortunate.  An  opinion  has  grown  out  of  it,  which 
at  present  obtains  almost  universally,  that  his  char 
acter  is  radically  deficient  in  discretion.  Hence  he 
is  considered  as  an  unfit  head  of  the  party." 

This  deliberate  and  characteristic  attempt,  by 
secret  means,  to  destroy  the  reputation  and  defeat 


HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON.  89 

the  election  of  his  party's  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency,  and  thereby  causing  the  utter  overthrow  of 
his  party's  supremacy,  has  no  parallel  in  political 
history.  And  it  is  all  the  more  indefensible,  coming, 
as  it  did,  from  a  man  who  aspired  to  the  leadership 
of  the  party.  The  blow  was  propelled  by  vindictive 
iealousy,  its  direct  results  were  disastrous,  it  defeated 
John  Adams  for  the  presidency,  and  it  utterly 
destroyed  the  Federal  party,  while  in  its  reaction  it 
brought  political  disgrace  to  Hanrlton.  He  never 
recovered  from  the  crushing  COL  'emnation  of  his 
party. 

Jefferson  was  then  president  and  Burr  vice-presi 
dent;  the  acknowledged  chiefs  of  the  Eepublican 
party,  equally  honored  and  esteemed.  But  this  did 
not  long  continue.  There  was  formed  in  the  State 
o^  Virginia  a  coalition  of  Eepublican  politicians, 
known  at  that  day  as  the  "Virginia  .Jn^^  "  Its 
purpose  was  to  make  Virginia  the  dominating  State, 
and  to  hold  the  presidency  among  themselves.  It 
was  arranged  that  Jefferson  should  have  a  second 
term,  to  be  followed  by  Madison  or  Monroe.  Vir 
ginia's  position  at  that  time  made  these  plans  feasi 
ble,  if  one  obstacle  could  be  removed.  AnglJLhiitJwas 
Aaron  Burr.  As  it  stood  then,  Burr's  chances  to 
succeed  Jefferson  seemed  greater  than  Jefferson's  had 
been  to  succeed  John  Adams.  Hurr  must,  therefore. 
be  disposed  of;  his  career  must  be  checked.  It 
would  not  do  to  attack  him  openly:  he  would  be  in- 


90  HAMILTON  AND  JEFFERSON. 

vulnerable  in  a  fair  fight.  They  must  act  secretly, 
in  the  meantime  deceiving  him  with  professions  of 
friendship.  The  scheme  adopted  was  to  destroy 
Burr's  influence  in  his  own  State.  For  this  purpose 
secret  negotiations  were  entered  into  with  George 
Clinton,  of  that  State,  proposing  an  alliance  which 
would  give  Jefferson  a  second  term  and  make  Clin 
ton  Burr's  successor  in  the  vice-presidency. 

This  was  a  shrewd  move,  for  the  Clintons  were  a 
powerful  family,  which  had  long  held  the  important 
state  offices  and  were  not  well  pleased  that  Burr  had 
stepped  in  before  them.  An  agreement  was  soon 
reached,  and  work  was  quietly  begun  by  the  parties 
to  the  compact.  Burr  did  not  even  suspect  the  in 
trigue  until  its  purpose  was  accomplished.  Even 
then  he  did  not  fully  understand  the  situation. 
r^Frank  and  fearless  himself,  he  was  not  suspicious  of 
\  others,  and  especially  he  did  not  suspect  such  ingrat- 
\itude  on  the  part  of  the  president.  It  was  not 
against  Burr's  vices,  but  his  influence,  the  conspiracy 
was  arrayed.  His  great  popularity  with  the  party, 
the  general  expectation  that  he  would  succeed  Jef- 
erson,  the  familiarity  with  which  he  was  spoken  of 
as  the  uheir  apparent,"  all  convinced  Jefferson  he 
must  drive  Burr  out  of  politics,  or  he  must  prepare 
to  retire  himself.  With  Burr  out  of  the  way  he 
would  have  no  rivaj^  no  one  to  dispute  his  dictator 
ship  within  the  party.  When  this  conclusion  was 
reached,  Jefferson  did  not  hesitate;  his  course  was 


HAMILTON    AND   JEFFERSON.  91 

settled.  He  quietly,  but  with  determination,  began 
his  work ;  with  no  scruples  of  conscience  to  deter, 
he  sought  the  most  certain  means  for  destroying 
the  man  who  blocked  his  way.  Jefferson  was  too 
skilled  an  intriguer  to  permit  his  plans  to  be  made 
known  only  to  those  who  were  selected  to  help  exe 
cute  them.  From  Burr  it  was  of  the  highest  neces 
sity  to  keep  them  profoundly  secret.  Indeed,  he  in 
creased  his  apparent  friendliness  for  the  vice-presi 
dent,  and  invited  him  more  frequently  to  dine  with 
him. 

George  Clinton,  so  long  Governor  of  New  York, 
had  been  the  candidate  for  vice-president  in  1796,  on 
the  ticket  with  Jefferson,  and  was  defeated  by  Jef 
ferson's  election  to  that  office.  This  defeat,  which 
the  governor  attributed  to  Jefferson's  unfairness,  so 
irritated  Clinton  he  became  a  bitter  personal  enemy 
of  Jefferson.  It  was  this  personal  enemy  which  the 
plans  of  the  president  required  him  now  to  concili 
ate.  Jefferson  was  equal  to  the  occasion ;  he  knew 
the  weakness  of  the  old  governor  and  he  knew  well 
how  to  play  upon  it.  He  "dangled ''  the  vice-presi 
dency  before  his  eyes,  until  Clinton  forgot  his  enmi 
ty,  smoothed  his  outraged  feelings  toward  Jefferson, 
and  eagerly  accepted  the  bait.  Another  accomplice 
was  necessary,  a  man  who  was  both  a  personal  and 
political  enemy  of  the  president,  who  had  loaded 
him  with  every  obnoxious  epithet  he  knew  or  could 
invent.  But  Jefferson  knew  he  hated  Burr  more  in- 


92  HAMILTON"    AND   JEFFERSON. 

•tensely  than  he  hated  himself.  Jefferson  could  offer 
him  no  political  preferment,  but  he  could  offer  him 
what  he  would  prize  far  more  highly — revenge  on 
Burr.  Hamilton  gladly  joined  the  conspiracy. 
Xever  before  had  a  triumvirate  been  formed  from 
such  hostile  elements,  and  never  had  men  conspired 
to  accomplish  a  baser  purpose. 

Of  this  conspiracy  to  remove  Burr  from  the  po 
litical  pathway  of  Jefferson,  Henry  Adams,  in  his 
history  of  the  Vnited  States,  says:  "In  the  face  of 
all  this  provocation  the  vice-president  behaved  with 
studied  caution  and  reserve.  Never  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  did  so  powerful  a  combination 
of  rival  politicians  unite  to  break  down  a  single  man 
as  that  which  arrayed  itself  against  Burr,  for,  as  the 
hostile  circle  gathered  about  him,  he  could  plainly 
see  not  only  Jefferson.  Madison,  and  the  whole  Vir 
ginia  legion,  with  Duane  and  his  Aurora  at  their 
heels  :  not  only  DeWitt  Clinton  and  his  whole  family, 
with  Cheatham  and  his  Watchtower  by  their  side ; 
but  strangest  of  all  companions  —  Alexander  Hamil 
ton  himself  joining  hands  with  his  own  bitterest 
enemies  to  complete  the  ring."  Again  Mr.  Adams 
says :  "  All  the  world  knew  that  not  Cheatham, 
but  DeWitt  Clinton  thus  dragged  the  vice-president 
irom  his  chair;  and  that  not  Burr's  vices  but  his 
influence  made  his  crimes  heinous ;  that  behind  De- 
Witt  Clinton  stood  the  Virginia  dynasty  dangling 


HAMILTON    AND   JEFFERSON.  03 

Burr's  office  in  the  eyes  of  the  Clinton  family  and 
lavishing  honors  and  money  on  the  Livingstons.'' 

That  Jefferson,  at  this  time,  had  a  good  opinion 
of  Burr,  that  he  admitted  his  integrity  and  respected 
his  ability,  is  shown  by  his  own  correspondence. 
The  conspiracy  entered  into  between  .Jefferson  and 
the  Clintons,  of  New  York,  to  drive  Burr  from  the 
political  field,  was  only  an  intrigue  to  remove  a  rival 
from  their  paths,  and  was  an  admission  of  Burr's 
great  strength  and  popularity  with  the  people.  Jef 
ferson  feared  him  as  a  rival  for  the  succession  to  the 
presidency;  Ka  had  but  recently  declared  that  he 
regarded  Burr  as  a  man  of  talents,  integrity  and  of 
great  and  deserved  personal  popularity  with  his 
party.  At  this  time  he  did  not  intend  to  pursue 
Burr  beyond  the  line  necessary  for  his  own  protec 
tion  in  political  life,  but  this  Jefferson  knew  would 
require  a  great  effort,  therefore  it  was  that  "  never 
in  the  history  of  the  United  States  did  so  powerful  a 
combination  of  rival  politicians  unite  to  break  down 
a  single  man." 

Jefferson  was  a  member  of  Washington's  cabinet 
during  the  first  two  years  of  Burr's  senatorial  term, 
but  there  is  no  evideece  of  any  intimate  acquaintance 
between  them  during  that  time.  Their  first  corres 
pondence  was  invited  by  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  written 
to  Burr  on  the  17th  of  June,  1797,  soon  after  Jeffer 
son  became  vice-president  and  Burr  had  retired 
from  the  senate.  This  letter  was  long  and  friendly 


94  HAMILTON   AND   JEFFERSON. 

throughout.  It  begins  as  follows :  "  The  newspapers 
give  so  minutely  what  is  passing  in  congress,  that 
nothing  of  detail  can  be  wanting  for  your  informa 
tion.  Perhaps,  however,  some  general  view  of  our 
situation  and  prospects,  since  you  left  us,  may  not 
be  unacceptabe.  At  any  rate,  it  gives  me  an  oppor 
tunity  of  recalling  myself  to  your  memory,  and  of 
evidencing  my  esteem  for  you."  This  would  show, 
at  least,  that  whatever  acquaintance  had  before  ex 
isted  between  them,  Burr  had  secured  the  esteem  of 
Jefferson,  and  created  in  the  latter  a  desire  for  a 
friendly  correspondence.  The  correspondence  thus 
opened  by  Jefferson  was  mutually  continued  in  a 
spirit  of  friendship  until  the  election  in  1801,  when 
Jefferson  became  president  and  Burr  vice-president. 
After  the  election  of  1800,  when  the  result  was 
sufficiently  known  to  make  it  certain  that  Jeffer 
son  and  Burr  were  both  elected,  Jefferson  wrote 
Burr  a  congratulatory  letter,  under  date  of  Decem 
ber  15th,  1800,  apart  of  which  is  as  follows:  "While 
I  must  congratulate  you,  my  dear  sir,  on  the  issue 
of  this  contest,  because  it  is  more  honorable,  and, 
doubtless,  more  grateful  to  you  than  any  station 
within  the  competence  of  the  chief  magistrate ;  yet, 
for  myself,  and  for  the  substantial  service  of  the 
public,  I  feel  most  sensibly  the  loss  we  sustain  of 
your  aid  in  our  new  administration.  It  leaves  a 
chasm  in  my  arrangements  which  cannot  be  ade 
quately  filled  up.  I  had  endeavored  to  compose  an 


HAMILTON    AND   JEFFERSON.  95 

administration  whose  talents,  integrity,  names  and 
dispositions  should  at  once  inspire  unbounded  con 
fidence  in  the  public  mind,  and  insure  a  perfect  har 
mony  in  the  conduct  of  the  public  business.  I  lose 
you  from  the  list,  and  am  not  sure  of  all  the  others. 
Should  the  gentlemen  who  possess  the  public  con 
fidence  decline  taking  a  part  in  their  affairs,  and 
force  us  to  take  persons  unknown  to  the  people,  the 
evil  genius  of.  this  country  may  realize  his  avowal 
that  he  will  beat  down  the  administration." 

In  this  Jefferson  pays  Burr  the  highest  possible 
compliment.i  He  intended,  if  Burr  had  failed  in  his 
candidacy  for  the  vice-presidency,  to  invite  him  to 
a  seat  in  the  cabinet,  to  become  a  member  of  "our 
new  administration,''  and  he  j^egrets  to  have  lost 
him  from  the  list  of  those  whose  "talents,  integrity, 
names,  and  dispositions  should  inspire  unbounded 
confidence  in  the  public  mind."  3  Jefferson  afterward  \ 
gave  a  further  reason  for  having  destined  Burr  to 
a  high  position  in  his  administration.  It  was,  he 
says,  "out  of  respect  for  the  favor  he  had  obtained 
with  the  Eepublican  party,  by  his  extraordinary 
exertions  and  succ£ssos-in  the  Xew  York  election  in 
1800.''  He  then  knew  and  acknowledged  Burr's 
great  personal  popularity  with  his  party,  and  the 
obligation  the  party  and  himself  were  under  to  Burr 
for  the  party  triumph  in  1800.  Burr,  almost  alone 
and  unaided,  had  organized  victory  for  the  Republi- 


96  HAMILTON   AND  JEFFERSON. 

cans  in  the  pivotal  State  of  New  York,   and  thus 
secured  the  election  of  Jefferson  to  the  presidency. 

Jefferson's  last  letter  to  Burr  was  dated  February 
1st,  1801,  a  few  days  before  the  election  in  the  House 
of  Kepresentatives,  and  after  the  Federalists  had  de 
clared  their  intention  to  support  Burr.  It  is,  in  full, 
as  follows:  "  It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  enemy 
would  endeavor  to  sow  tares  between  us,  that  they 
might  divide  us  and  our  friends.  Every  considera 
tion  satisfies  me  that  you  will  be  on  your  guard 
against  this,  as  I  assure  you  I  am,  strongly.  I  hear 
of  one  stratagem,  so  imposing  and  so  base,  that  it  is 
proper  I  should  notice  it  to  you.  Mr.  Munford,  who 
is  here,  says  he  saw,  at  New  York,  before  he  left  it, 
an  original  letter  of  mine  to  Judge  Breckenridge, 
in  which  are  sentiments  highly  injurious  to  you. 
He  knows  my  hand  writing,  and  did  not  doubt  that 
to  be  genuine.  I  enclose  you  a  copy  taken  from  the 
press  copy  of  the  only  letter  I  ever  wrote  to  Judge 
Breckenridge  in  my  life;  the  press  copy  itself  has 
been  shown  to  several  of  our  mutual  friends  here. 
Of  consequence,  the  letter  seen  by  Mr.  Munford 
must  be  a  forgery,  and  if  it  contains  a  sentiment  un 
friendly  or  disrespectful  to  you,  I  affirm  it  solemnly 
to  be  a  forgery ;  as  also  if  it  varies  from  the  copy  en 
closed.  With  the  common  trash  of  slander  I  would 
not  think  of  troubling  you  ;  but  the  forgery  of  one's 
handwriting  is  too  imposing  to  be  neglected.  A 
mutual  knowledge  of  each  other  furnishes  us  with 


HAMILTON   AND  JEFFERSON.  97 

the  best  test  of  the  contrivances  which  will  be  prac 
ticed  by  the  enemies  of  both.  Accept  assurances  of 
my  high  respect  and  esteem." 

Throughout  their  entire  correspondence,  Jeffer- 
son  never  varied  from  the  assertion  that  he  regarded 
Burr  with  the  highest  possible  respect.  If  these 
were  not  his  real  sentiments,  if  he  was  at  the  same 
time  assuring  others  that  Burr  was  not  trustworthy, 
we  leave  it  to  his  friends  to  characterize  his  conduct. 
Burr  then  had  no  cause  to  suspect  that  Jefferson  was 
not  his  friend,  for  Jefferson's  assurance  of  friendship 
had  been  constantly  given.  These  letters  from  Jef 
ferson  to  Burr  are  found  in  Jefferson's  published 
correspondence.  They  show  conclusively  that  up  to 
their  final  election  to  the  presidency  and  vice-presi 
dency,  in  1801,  Jefferson  had  the  utmost  respect  for 
Burr's  ability,  integrity  and  general  trustworthiness. 
That  he  placed  him  among  the  strongest  and  most 
popular  men  of  his  party,  one  of  those  he  had  pro 
posed  for  a  seat  in  his  cabinet,  and  to  whom  he 
could  look  with  confidence  for  wise  counsel  in  the 
administration  of  the  government. 

It  cannot  be  supposed,  then,  that  it  was  from  any 
want  of  confidence  in  Burr's  capacity,  honesty  or 
faithfulness  to  party  principles,  that  he  organized  an 
opposition  to  Burr  for  the  purpose  of  driving  him 
out  of  political  life.  It  was  rather  because  these 
characteristics  of  Burr  were  known  and  acknowl 
edged,  not  only  by  himself,  but  by  the  Republicans 


98  HAMILTON   AND  JEFFERSON. 

generally.  He  had  at  the  recent  electoral  election 
received  an  equal  vote  with  Jefferson  for  the  presi 
dency.  It  was  acknowledged  that  his  personal  efforts 
at  the  popular  election  in  New  York  had,  despite 
Hamilton's  best  endeavors,  defeated  the  Federalists 
in  that  state,  and  thereby  secured  a  republican  vic 
tory  in  the  nation.  He  was  generally  named  by 
men  of  all  parties  as  "the  heir  apparent"  to  the 
presidency.  Jefferson  feared  him  as  a  rival  likely 
|  to  deprive  him  of  a  second  term  in  office.  These 
were  the  motives  which  induced  Jefferson  to  organ 
ize  a  conspiracy,  the  most  powerful  and  unprinci 
pled  known  in  history,  as  arrayed  against  a  single 
man.  \It_g^s  not  an  open,  manly  fight  thus  put  up 
against  Burr;  the  conspirators  worked  in  secret,  and 
while  thek*  chief  directed  all  their  movements,  he 
redoubled  his  friendly  attentions  to  their  victim. 
Burr  was  invited  and  dined  at  the  White  House 
twice  a  month.  He  had  no  reasomtQ  suspect  the 
duplicity  and  ingratitude  of  his  host,  i 


CHAPTER  V. 


BURR  —  JEFFERSON  —  HAMILTON. 


Charges  Against  Burr  — The  Election  Intrigue,  1801  — Burr's  Refusal  to 
Treat  With  Federalists  —  Jefferson  Buys  His  Election  — Depositions 
of  Bayaid  aud  Smith  — A  Scheme  to  Elect  Burr  — He  Rejects  It  — 
Bayard's  Displeasure  — Jefferson's  Trouble  in  Making  Payment  — 
"Revolt  of  His  Friends  in  Philadelphia  — Importing  a  Post-master  to 
New  York. 


No  serious  charge  of  improper  conduct  could  be 
brought  against  Burr,  and  nothing  of  that  kind  was 
attempted.  Duane  was  watchful,  but  he  found  only 
trifling  causes  of  complaint>x  Burr  was  invited  by 
C4ouverneur  Morris  and  attende4  a  banquet  given  in 
honor  of  Washington  on  his  birthday.  This  was  made 
the  subject  of  special  attack.  He  was  charged  with 
having  abandoned  the  simplicity  of  republicanism, 
and  of  pandering  to  the  forms  of  Federalists.  But  one 
charge  could  be  brought  against  him  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  as  vice-president.  Under  the  adminis 
tration  of  John  Adams  an  act  had  been  passed  by 
Congress  dividing  the  country  into  national  judicial 
districts,  in  which  United  States  district  judges  had 
been  appointed  by  President  Adams.  The  tenure  of 
office  of  these  judges  was  for  life  or  good  behavior. 

(99) 


100  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

They  could  not  be  removed  by  President  Jefferson. 
They  were  Federalists.  Thereupon  the  Eepublicans 
determined  to  repeal  the  law  creating  the  districts, 
and  thus  legislate  the  judges  out  of  office,  then  re- 
enact  the  law,  when  the  president  could  appoint 
new  judges  from  his  own  party  friends. x  Burr  dis 
sented  from  this  course,  because,  as  he  explained,  he 
thought  it  morally  wrong  to  remove  these  men  from 
offices  to  which  they  had  been  appointed  for  life  or 
good  behavior,  solely  on  the  ground  of  their  politi 
cal  convictions.  On  a  motion  to  commit  the  bill  to 
a  committee  for  amendment,  supported  by  the  Fed 
eralists  and  opposed  by  the  Republicans,  there  was 
a  tie  vote.  The  vice-president  voted  with  the  Fed 
eralists  in  the  affirmative.  It  was  not  an  important 
vote,  and  did  not  in  the  end  defeat  the  enactment  of 
the  bill.  But  it  gave  Duane  and  the  Virginia  con 
spirators  a  pretext  for  assailing  Burr,  and  it  was  used 
unsparingly  by  their  New  York  allies. 

The  opportunity,  long  waited  for  by  the  conspir 
ators,  for  making  a  united  and  open  attack  upon 
Burr  came  when,  in  February,  1804,  the  Eepublicans 
of  New  York  nominated  him  as  their  candidate  for 
governor.  The  Clinton  faction  in  that  state  had 
been  quietly  organizing  and  secretly  preparing  for 
the  contest.  The  leaders  and  their  hirelings  now 
came  forth  into  the  open  day  with  their  carefully 
prepared  calumnies  to  overwhelm  Burr.  They  em 
ployed  and  set  to  work  a  number  of  most  scurrilous 


BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  101 

newspapers.  Chief  among  these  was  -one  edited  by 
a  foreigner  named  Cheatham,  who  assailed  Burr 
with  the  vilest  calumny  and  venom.  The  more 
respectable  papers  warmly  defended  Burr.  Among 
these  was  the  Morning  Chronicle,  edited  by  Dr.  Peter 
Irving,  an  elder  brother  of  Washington  Irving,  the 
author.  But  it  was  said,  "Dr.  Irving,  contending 
with  such  a  fellow  as  Cheatham,  labored  under  the 
crushing  disadvantage  of  being  a  gentleman  and  a 
scholar."  The  better  class  of  people,  led  by  the  bet 
ter  class  of  newspapers,  was  amazed  at  the  vileness 
and  baseness  of  Burr's  assailants. 

_The  leading  charge,  in  fact  the  almost  sole  charge, 
urged  against  Burr,  and  the  one  which  bore  him 
down  in  the  end,  was  that  he  intrigued  with  the 
Federalists,  for  their  votes,  at  the  election  in  the 
house  of  representatives,  in  1801.  This  is  perhaps 
the  most  generally  believed  and  most  hurtful  charge 
ever  brought  against  Burr,  unless  possibly  the 
charge  of  treason  afterward  preferred.  We  will  be 
pardoned,  then,  if  we  enter  fully  into  an  investigation 
of  the  subject  and  see  if  it  can  be  sustained.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  this  charge  was  not  made  until 
more  than  three  years  after  the  election  in  the  house 
of  representatives,  and  then  in  an  exciting  political 
contest  between  the  Clintons  and  Burr  in  New  York. 
The  American  Citizen,  a  newspaper  in  the  interest  of 
the  Clintons,  and  edited  by  an  Englishman  named 
Cheatham,  hired  to  do  the  dirty  work  of  the  canvass, 


1 02  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

originated  the  charge  of  intrigue.  Cheatham's  char 
acter  was  bad,  and  he  wa8  entirely  irresponsible. 
Mr.  Parton,  in  his/life  of  Burr,  thus  notices  this 
charge;  be  says:  \" Cheatham's  main  charge  may 

\_^-— 

be  divided  into  two  counts:  first,  that  Colonel  Burr 
intrigued  for  Federal  votes;  second,  that  he  intrigued 
for  Republican  votes.  Than  the  first  count,  no 
accusation  made  against  a  politician  was  ever  so 
slenderly  supported  by  evidence,  or  refuted  by  evi 
dence  so  various,  so  unequivocal,  so  lavishly  super 
fluous  in  quantity.  In  the  course  of  the  discussion 
which  arose,  every  person  who  could  have  been  con 
cerned  in  the  alleged  intrigue  —  Burr's  intimate 
friends,  the  leading  Federalists,  members  of  the  house 
who  held  optional  votes  —  denied  in  terms  positive 
and  unequivocal,  in  the  public  press  and  over  their 
own  signatures,  that  they  had  either  taken  part  in, 
or  had  any  knowledge  of,  any  intrigue  or  bargain 
between  Colonel  Burr  and  the  Federalists,  or  between 
the  friends  of  Colonel  Burr  and  the  Federalists,  dur 
ing  the  period  referred  to,  or  at  any  time  preced 
ing  itj 

A  specific  charge  was  that  David  A.  Ogden  had 
negotiated  between  the  Federalists  and  Burr.  He 
published  a  card  in  the  Morning  Chronicle,  in  which 
he  said  :  Two  or  three  Federal  members  of  con 
gress  had  instructed  him  to  see  Burr  and  ascertain 
whether  he  would  consider  terms.  ^  He  did  so-  but 

V- " 

Burr,  he  says,  would  not  consider  the  matter"     "  He 


BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  103 

would  neither  hear  nor  propose  terms."  And  Ogden 
so  reported.  In  every  specific  case  named,  without 
a  single  exception,  the  person  named  made  positive 
denial  of  the  charge.  Edward  Livingston,  John 
Swartwout,  William  P.  Yanness,  Matthew  L.  Davis, 
and  many  others  who  were  in  position  to  know  if 
any  intrigue  had  been  attempted  on  the  part  of 
Burr,  denied  through  the  public  press  that,  to  their 
knowledge  or  belief,  any  effort  of  the  kind  had 
been  made."  $>ven  Alexander  Hamilton  published  a 
card  in  the  Evening  Post,  in  which  he  declared  he 
did  not  believe  Burr  had  any  negotiations  with  the 
Federalists/<^Jajaes  A.  Bayard,  the  leader  of  the 
Federalists',  and  General  Samuel  Smith,  the  leader 
of  the  Republicans  in  the  House,  each  published 
a  card  in  the  public  papers,  that  they  had  neither 
knowledge  nor  belief  that  Burr  had  made  any  effort, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  promote  his  own  election  or 
to  defeat  Jefferson?'  While  all  this  flood  of  proof  of 
Burr's  innocency  was  flowing  in  from  every  quarter, 
not  one  particle  of  proof,  not  a  single  witness  to 
sustain  Cheatham's  charge,  was  produced _by_jiim- 
self_or  .by  any  one  for  him.  He  simply  iterated  and 
reiterated  his  charge,  day  after  day,  depending  on 
the  maxim  of  some  politicians,  that  a  lie  well  stuck 
to  is  as  effective  as  the  truth. 

It  was  also  shown  that  during  the  entire  session 
of  Congress,  at  which  the  election  was  held,  Burr 
was  at  Albany,  New  York,  400  miles  away,  attend- 


104  BURR-  JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

ing  to  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the  legislature.  To 
argument,  to  solemn  deposition,  to  circumstantial 
affidavit,  Cheatham's  only  response  was  endless 
reiteration  of  the  charge,  and  that  only.  For  awhile 
Burr  maintained  his  usual  silence  against  all  news 
paper  attack  ;  but  at  length  he  wrote  a  brief  letter 
to  4ns  friend,  Governor  Bloomfield,  of  New  Jersey, 
in  which  he  said  :  O'  You  are  at  liberty  to  declare 
from  me  that  all  those  charges  and  insinuations 
which  aver  or  intimate  that  I  advised  or  counte 
nanced  the  opposition  made  to  Jefferson  pending 
the  late  election  and  balloting  for  president  ;  that  I 
proposed  or  agreed  to  any  terms  with  the  Federal 
party  ;  that  I  assented  to  be  held  up  in  opposition 
to  him,  or  attempted  to  withdraw  from  him  the  vote 
or  support  if  any  man,  whether  in  or  out  of  Con 
gress  —  that  all  such  assertions  or  intimations  are 


^ 

The  bitterness  of  party  passion,  which  raged  at 
that  time  to  an  extent  which  can  scarcely  find  cre 
dence  at  this  day,  prevented  all  attempts  to  estab 
lish  the  truth  in  the  minds  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people.  Cheatham's  unsupported  assertions  out 
weighed  the  most  circumstantial  and  positive  de 
nials  of  every  man  who  could  have  known  the  truth. 
For  a  time  the  excitement  abated,  but  only  to  revive 
again  at  the  state  election  two  years  later.  At 
length  it  was  determined  that  this  charge  should  be 
legally  investigated  and  established,  or  laid  at  rest 


BrKR-JEFFKRSOX-HAMILTOX.  1 05 

by  formal  und  legal  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice. 
A  suit  was,  therefore^commenqed  in  ^frp  Snprcmr 
Coujtof  the  city  of  New  York,  based  on  these 
charges,  and  an  issue  made  up  for  trial.  The  par 
ties  to  the  suit  were  James  Gillespie.  plaintiff,  and 
AbrajjanTSrnith,  defendant.  Leading  lawyers  were 
employecPto  conduct  the  investigation.  A  commis 
sion  was  appointed ~to  take  the  depositions  of  such 
witnesses  as  resided  without  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  and  interrogatories  were  prepared  to  be  an 
swered  by  the  deponents.  The  commission  was  ap 
pointed  on  the  3d  day  of  April,  1806.  Among  the 
witnesses  examined  were  two  to  whose  testimony 
the  very  highest  importance  was  attached.  _ Uiese- 
were  Jamas  A.  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  and  General 
SamueX  Smith,  of  Maryland.  Both  at.  the  time  of 
testifying  were  United  States  Senators,  and  both  at 
the  time  of  the  election  were  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  in  which  Bayard  was  the  leader 
of  the  Federalists  and  Smith  the  leader  of  the  Re 
publicans.  No  negotiations  could  have  taken  place, 
of  this  nature,  without  the  knowledge  of  these  men. 
We  will  then,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  confine  our- 
self  to  the  depositions  of  these  important  witnesses, 
though  we  may  say  that  no  word  impeaching  or 
contradicting  the  evidence  was  given  in  the  case. 
We  will  give  first  what  they  have  to  say  about  Burr, 
to  be  followed  by  what  they  have  to  say  about  an 
other  important  personage. 


106  BURR-JEFFEKSOX-HAMILT<  )N. 

Among  the  interrogatories  propounded  to  Mr. 
Bayard  was  this  one:  "Do  you  know,  or  have  you 
heard  so  that  you  believe,  of  any  negotiations,  bar 
gains  or  agreements,  in  the  year  1800  or  1801,  by 
or  on  behalf  of  the  said  Aaron  Burr,  or  by  and  on 
behalf  of  any  other  person,  and  whom,  with  the 
parties  called  Federal  or  .Republican,  or  either  of 
them,  or  with  any  individual,  and  whom,  of  the  said 
parties,  relative  to  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States?  If  yea,  declare  the  same,  with  all 
the  particulars  thereof,  and  the  reasons  of  such 
belief. 

The  answer  of  Mr.  Bayard  is  as  follows : 

"  To  this  interrogatory  the  deponent  answers  and 
says:  I  do  not  know,  nor  did  I  ever  believe,  from 
any  information  I  received,  that  Mr.  Burr  entered 
into  any  negotiation  or  agreement  with  any  member 
of  either  party  in  relation  to  the  presidential  elec 
tion  which  depended  before  the  House  of  .Repre 
sentatives." 

[In  a  previous  deposition  he  says:  "I  repeatedly 
stated  to  many  gentlemen,  with  whom  I  was  acting, 
that  it  was  a  vain  thing  to  protract  the  election,  as 
it  had  become  manifest  that  Mr.  Burr  would  not 
assist  us,  and  as  we  could  do  nothing  without  his 
aid.  I  expected,  under  the  circumstances,  if  there 
was  any  latent  engines  at  work  in  Mr.  Burr's  favor, 
the  plan  of  operation  would  be  disclosed  to  me; 
but,  although  I  had  the  power,  and  threatened  to 


BURR-.TEFFERSON-HAMILTOX.  107 

terminate  the  election,  I  had  not  even  an  intima 
tion  from  any  friend  of  Mr.  Burr's  that  it  would  be 
desirable  to  them  to  protract  it.  I  never  did  dis 
cover  that  Mr.  Burr  used  the  least  influence  to  pro 
mote  the  object  we  had  in  view.  And  being  com 
pletely  persuaded  that  Mr.  Burr  would  not  co 
operate  with  us,  I  determined  to  end  the  contest 
by  voting  for  Mr.  Jefferson.  *  *  ~-i4iaye  no 

reason  to  believe,  and  never  did  think  that  he  inter 
fered,  even  to  the  point  of  personal  influence,  to 
obstruct  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  or  to  promote 
his  own."] 

The  deposition  of  Mr.  Bayard  was  taken  by  the 
commission  appointed  for  that  purpose  at  the  city 
of  Washington  on  the  13th  day  of  April,  1806. 

The  deposition  of  General  Samuel  Smith  was 
taken  by  the  same  commission  at  the  same  place,  on 
the  15th  day  of  April,  1806.  We  give  that  portion 
which  relates  to  the  charge  against  Aaron  Burr. 
General  Smith  testifies: 

"  I  became  acquainted  with  Colonel  Burr  some 
time  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

y '  I  know  of  no  agreement  or  bargain  in  the  years 
180fTand  1801,  with  any  person  or  persons  whatso 
ever  respecting  the  office  of  president  in  behalf  of 
Aaron  Burr,  noj^have  I  any  reason  to  believe  that 
any  such  existed. 

"I  received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Burr,  dated,  I 
believe,  December  16th,  1800,  in  reply  to  one  I  had 


1 08  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

just  before  written  him.     The  letter  of  Colonel  Burr 
is  as- follows: 

(  'It  is  highly  improbable  that  I  shall  have  an  equal 
number  of  votes  with  Mr.  Jefferson;  but  if  such 
should  be  the  result,  every  man  who  knows  me  ought 
to  know  that  I  would  utterly  disclaim  all  competition. 
Be  assured  that  the  Federal  party  can  entertain  no 
wish  for  such  an  exchange.  As  to  my  friends,  they 
would  dishonor  my  views  and  insult  my  feelings  by 
a  suspicion  that  I  would  submit  to  be  instrumental 
in  counteracting  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  And  I  now  constitute 
you  my  proxy  to  declare  these  sentiments  if  the  oc 
casion  should  require.'  ' 

General  Smith  adds:  "My  correspondence  with 
him  continued  to  the  close  of  the  election.  In  none 
of  his  letters  to  me,  or  to  any  other  person,  that 
I  saw,  was  there  anything  that  contradicted  the 
sentiments  contained  in  that  letter." 

This  is  the  testimony  of  the  two  men  who  had 
better  opportunity  to  know  the  facts  than  any 
other  two  men  in  the  country  —  indeed,  no  intrigue 
could  have  existed,  or  have  been  effective,  without 
their  knowledge  and  assistance,  yet  both  swear  that 
to  their  knowledge  or  belief  no  such  intrigue  was 
ever  made  or  attempted  on  the  part  of  Burr.  Could 
anything  be  more  positive,  more  explicit  or  more 
conclusive  than  this  vindication  of  Aaron  Burr  from 
the  charge  of  intrigue  in  that  election?  Well  may 


BCRR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  109 

Mr.  Davis,  the  biographer  of  Burr,  say,  after  bum 
ming  up  the  testimony:  V"  It  has  been  seen  that 
whenever  and  wherever  the  charge  was  rendered 
tangible  by  specification,  it  was  met  and  repelled. 
For  a  refutation  of  the  general  charge,  Mr.  Bayard 
and  Mr.  Smith's  testimony  is  sufficiently  explicit. 
Concurring  testimony  could  be  piled  upon  pile;  but 
if  there  remains  an  individual  who  will  not  be  con 
vinced  by  the  evidence  which  has  been  produced, 
then  that  individual  would  not  be  convinced, 
'  though  one  would  rise  from  the  dead  '  and  bear 
testimony  to  the  falsity  of  the  charge."  \ 

The  purpose  at  this  time  is  simply  the  vindica 
tion  of  Aaron  Burr  from  the  charge  of  intrigue  in 
the  election  of  president  Jby  the  House  of  Represent 
atives  in  1801.  We  think  we  have  fully  accomplished 
that  purpose;  but  the  evidence  we  have  been  consid 
ering  presents  other  matter  intimately  connected 
with  the  charge  against  Burr  which  it  would  not  be 
proper  to  pass  in  silence.  Both  Bayard  and  Smith, 
in  their  sworn  statements,  in  which  they  were 
required  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  have  detailed  a 
transaction  which  seems  to  have  had  direct  and  con 
trolling  influence  upon  the  result  of  that  election. 
In  the  same  deposition  from  which  we  have  quoted, 
and  in  answer  to  a  different  interrogatory,  Mr.  Bay 
ard  thus  deposes: 

''  To  the  fifth  interrogatory  he  answers  and  says: 
I  presume  this  interrogatory  points  to  an  occurrence 


110  BURK-JEFFERSON-HAMTLTON. 

which  took  place  before  the  choice  of  president  was 
made,  and  after  the  balloting  had  continued  for 
several  days,  of  which  I  have  often  publicly  spoken. 
My  memory  enables  me  to  state  the  transaction  in 
substance  correctly,  but  not  to  be  answerable  for  the 
precise  words  which  were  used  upon  the  occasion. 
Messrs.  Baer  and  Craik,  members  of  the  house  of 
representatives  from  Maryland,  and  General  Morris, 
a  member  of  the  house  from  Vermont,  and  myself, 
having  the  power  to  determine  tha  votes  of  these 
States,  from  similarity  of  views  and  opinions  during 
the  pendency  of  the  election,  made  an  agreement  to 
vote  together.  We  foresaw  that  a  crisis  was  ap 
proaching  which  might  probably  force  us  to  separate 
in  our  votes  i'rom  the  party  with  whom  we  usually 
acted.  We  were  determined  to  make  a  president, 
and  the  period  of  Mr.  Adams'  administration  was 
rapidly  approaching. 

"  In  determining  to  secede  from  the  opposition  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  it  occurred  to  us  that  probably  instead 
of  being  obliged  to  surrender  at  discretion,  we  might 
obtain  terms  of  capitulation.  The  gentlemen  whose 
names  I  have  mentioned  authorized  me  to  declare 
their  concurrence  with  me  upon  the  best  terms  that 
could  be  procured.  The  vote  of  either  of  us  was 
sufficient  to  decide  the  choice.  With  a  view  to  the 
end  mentioned,  I  applied  to  Mr.  John  Nicholas,  a 
member  of  the  house  from  Virginia,  who  was  a 
particular  friend  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  I  stated  to  Mr. 


BURK-JEFFERSOX-HAMILTON.  Ill 

Nicholas  that  if  certain  points  of  the  future  adminis 
tration  could  be  understood  and  arranged  with  Mr. 
Jefferson,  I  was  authorized  to  say  that  three  States 
would  withdraw  from  an  opposition  to  his  election. 
He  asked  what  these  points  were.  I  answered : 
First,  sir,  the  public  credit;  secondly,  the  mainte 
nance  of  the  naval  system :  and,  lastly,  that  subordi 
nate  public  officers,  employed  only  in  the  execution 
of  details  established  by  law.  shall  not  be  removed 
from  office  on  the  ground  of  their  political  character, 
nor  without  complaint  against  their  couduct.  I  ex 
plained  myself  that  I  considered  it  not  only  reason 
able,  but  necessary,  that  offices  of  high  distinction 
and  confidence  should  be  filled  by  men  of  Mr.  .Jeffer 
son's  choice.  I  exemplified  by  mentioning,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  offices  of  the  secretaries  of  state  and  treas 
ury,  foreign  ministers,  £c..  and  on  the  other,  the  col 
lectors  of  ports,  &c.  Mr.  Nicholas  answered  me  that 
he  considered  the  points  as  very  reasonable :  that  he 
was  satisfied  that  they  corresponded  with  the  views 
and  intentions  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  that  he  knew 
him  well;  that  he  was  acquainted  with  most  of  the 
gentlemen  who  would  probably  be  about  him  and 
enjoy  his  confidence  in  case  he  became  president, 
and  that  if  I  would  be  satisfied  with  his  assurance, 
he  could  solemnly  declare  it  as  his  opinion  that  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  his  administration,  would  not  depart 
from  the  points  I  had  proposed.  I  replied  to  Mr. 
Nicholas  that  I  had  not  the  least  doubt  of  the  sin- 


112  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

cerity  oi  his  declaration,  and  that  his  opinion  was 
perfectly  correct ;  but  that  I  wanted  an  engagement, 
and  that,  if  the  points  could  in  any  form  be  under 
stood  as  conceded  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  election 
should  be  ended,  and  proposed  to  him  to  consult  Mr. 
Jefferson.  This  he  declined,  and  said  he  could  do  no 
more  than  give  me  the  assurance  of  his  own  opinion 
as  to  the  sentiments  and  the  designs  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  his  friends.  I  told  him  that  was  not  sufficient  — 
that  we  should  not  surrender  without  better  terms. 
LTpon  this  we  separated,  and  I  shortly  after  met 
with  General  Smith,  to  whom  I  unfolded  myself  in 
the  same  manner  that  I  had  done  to  Mr.  Nicholas. 

"  In  explaining  myself  in  relation  to  the  offices 
alluded  Jo,  I  mentioned  the  offices  of  George  Lati- 
mer,  collector  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  and  Allen 
McLane,  collecton  of  Wilmington.  General  Smith 
gave  me  the  same  assurance  as  to  the  observance  by 
Mr.  .Jefferson  of  the  points  which  I  had  stated,  which 
Mr.  Nicholas  had  done.  I  told  him  I  should  not  be 
satisfied  or  agree  to  yield  till  I  had  the  assurance  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  himself,  but  that  if  he  would  consult 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  bring  the  assurance  from  him,  the 
election  should  be  ended.  The  General  made  no 
difficulty  in  consulting  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  proposed 
giving  me  his  answer  the  next  morning.  The  next 
day,  upon  our  meeting.  General  Smith  informed  me 
that  he  had  seen  Mr.  Jefferson  and  stated  to  him  the 
points  mentioned,  and  was  authorized  by  him  to  say 


BURR-JEFFERSOX-HAMILTON.  113 

that  they  corresponded  with  his  views  and  inten 
tions,  and  that  we  might  confide  in  him  accordingly. 
The  opposition  of  Vermont,  Maryland  and  Delaware 
was  immediately  withdrawn,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
made  president  by  the  vote  of  ten  States." 

That  portion  of  the  deposition  of  General  Sam 
uel  Smith,  taken  in  the  same  case  and  in  answer  to 
the  same  question,  and  sworn  to  on  the  15th  day  of 
April,  1806,  is  as  follows: 

"  On  the  day  after  I  held  the  conversation  with 
General  Dayton,  I  was  asked  by  Mr.  Bayard  to  go 
into  the  committee  room.  He  then  stated  that  he 
had  it  in  his  power  (and  was  so  disposed)  to  termi 
nate  the  election,  but  he  wished  information  as  to 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  on  certain  subjects,  and  men 
tioned,  I  think,  the  same  three  points  already  alluded 
to  as  asked  by  Colonel  Parker  and  General  Dayton, 
and  received  from  me  the  same  answer  in  substance, 
(if  not  in  words,)  that  I  had  given  to  General  Day 
ton.  He  added  a  fourth,  to  -wit :  'What  would  be 
Mr.  .Jefferson's  conduct  as  to  the  public  officers?' 
He  said  he  did  not  mean  confidential  officers,  but  by 
elucidating  his  question,  he  added,  such  as  Mr.  Lati- 
mer,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  McLane,  of  Delaware. 
I  answered  that  I  never  had  heard  Mr.  Jefferson  say 
anything  on  that  subject.  He  requested  that  T 
would  inquire  and  inform  him  the  next  day.  /  did 
so.  And  the  next  day,  (Saturday,)  told  him  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  said  that  he  did  not  think  that 


114  BVRR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

such  officers  ought  to  be  dismissed  on  political 
grounds  only,  except  in  cases  where  they  had  made 
improper  use  of  their  offices  to  force  the  officers 
under  them  to  vote  contrary  to  their  judgment. 
That  as  to  Mr.  McLane,  he  had  already  been  spoken 
to  in  his  behalf  by  Major  Eccleston,  and  from  the 
character  given  him  by  that  gentleman,  he  con 
sidered  him  a  meritorious  officer;  of  course  that  he 
would  not  be  displaced,  or  ought  not  to  be  displaced. 
I  further  added  that  Mr.  Bayard  might  rest  assured 
(or  words  to  that  effect)  that  Mr.  Jefferson  would 
conduct,  as  to  these  points,  agreeably  to  the  opinions 
I  had  stated  as  his.  Mr.  Bayard  then  said,  '  we  will 
give  the  vote  on  Monday.'  and  then  separated.' " 

These  are  the  sworn  statements  of  the  two  active 
agents  in  the  negotiation.  Their  testimony  is  har 
monious,  full,  positive  and  conclusive.  There  was 
intrigue  in  the  election  of  1801,  but  it  was  on  the 
part  of  the  candidate  elected  on  that  occasion,  and 
not  on  the  part  of  the  one  defeated.  How  did  Mr. 
Jefferson  meet  this  charge,  so  damaging  to  his  repu 
tation  ?  He  met  it  with  denial  in  private,  but  with 
absolute  silence  in  public."  While  all  the  actors  in 
the  transaction  were  still  living,  he  made  no  public 
denial  of  the  charge,  demanded  no  investigation, 
sought  no  vindication  in  any  manner.  He  buried 
his  denial  in  his  private  journal,  where  no  eye  could 
see  it  but  his  own,  and  where  it  quietly  slept  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  was  first  brought  to  the 


BURK-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  115 

light  of  day  when  his  works  were  published,  in  1830, 
four  years  after  his  death. 

It  seems  he  attributed  the  taking  of  Bayard's 
deposition  to  Burr,  and  getting  into  a  towering  pas 
sion,  he  goes  to  his  journal  and  writes  some  strictures 
of  that  gentleman  for  conduct  which  had  occurred 
on  some  former  occasion,  and  closes  as  follows:  "I 
did  not  commit  these  things  to  writing  at  the  time, 
but  I  do  it  now,  because,  in  a  suit  between  him  and 
Cheatham,  he  has  had  a  deposition  of  Mr.  Bayard 
taken,  which  seems  to  have  no  relation  to  the  suit, 
nor  to  any  other  object  than  to  calumniate  me.  Bay 
ard  pretends  to  have  addressed  to  me,  during  the 
pendency  of  the  presidential  election,  in  February, 
1801,  through  General  Samuel  Smith,  certain  condi 
tions  on  which  my  election  might  be  obtained,  and 
that  General  Smith,  after  conversing  with  me,  gave 
answers  from  me.  This  is  absolutely  false.  No 
proposition  of  any  kind  was  ever  made  to  me  on 
that  occasion  by  General  Smith,  nor  any  answer 
authorized  by  me.  And  this  fact  General  Smith 
affirms  at  this  moment." 

This  entry  in  his  journal  was  made  by  Jefferson 
on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1806,  two  days  after  Bay 
ard's  deposition  was  taken,  and  on  the  very  day  that 
General  Smith  was  stating,  under  oath,  that  he  did 
take  a  proposition  from  Bayard  to  Jefferson,  and 
returned  an  answer  from  Jefferson  to  Bayard.  Thus, 
at  the  "moment"  when  Jefferson  was  referring  to 


1 16  BURK-JEFFKKSON-HAMILTON. 

Smith  as  a  witness  to  sustain  his  denial  of  Bayard's 
statement,  Smith  was  testifying  against  him  and  in 
support  of  Bayard.  Jefferson  never,  in  the  twenty 
years  that  he  lived  after  this,  attempted  to  vindicate 
his  reputation  from  this  damaging  attack.  But 
when  his  journal  was  indiscreetly  published,  with 
his  other  works,  in  1830,  this  entry  came  to  light. 
Mr.  Bayard  was  then  dead:  of  the  three  others  who 
acted  with  him  in  the  negotiation  with  Jefferson  only 
George  Baer,  of  Maryland,  was  living.  But  Baer 
came  promptly  to  the  defense  of  Bayard,  and  writing 
to  Bayard's  sons,  said,  under  date  of  April  19,  1830  : 
u  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  facts  stated 
in  the  deposition  of  your  father,  the  late  James  A. 
Bayard,  so  far  as  they  came  to  my  knowledge,  are 
substantially  correct;  and  although  nearly  thirty 
years  have  elapsed  since  that  eventful  period,  my 
recollection  is  vivid  as  to  the  principal  circumstances, 
which,  from  the  part  I  was  called  upon  to  act,  were 
deeply  graven  on  my  memory."  He  also  says,  in 
referring  to  the  election  :  "Having  received  assur 
ances  from  a  source  on  which  we  placed  reliance, 
that  our  wishes  with  regard  to  certain  points  of 
Federal  policy  in  which  we  felt  a  deep  interest  would 
be  observed,  in  case  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected,  the 
opposition  of  Vermont,  Delaware  and  Maryland  was 
withdrawn." 

During  the  continuance  of  the  balloting  in  the 
house  of  representatives  Bayard  made  regular  re- 


BUKK-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  117 

port  to  Hamilton.  Soon  after  the  election  was  de 
cided  he  wrote  a  full  report  explaining  and  excusing 
his  refusal  to  accept  Hamilton's  advice  to  reject  Burr 
and  vote  for  Jefferson  from  the  start.  This  letter  is 
found  in  Hamilton's  works,  VI.,  522,  and  is  as  fol 
lows  :  ';  Your  views  in  relation  to  this  election  dif 
fered  very  little  from  my  own,  but  I  was  obliged  to 
yield  to  a  torrent  which  I  perceived  might  be  di 
verted,  but  could  not  be  opposed. 

"  In  one  case  I  was  willing  to  take  Burr,  but  I 
never  considered  it  as  a  case  likely  to  happen.  If 
by  his  conduct  he  had  completely  forfeited  the  con 
fidence  and  friendship  of  his  party,  and  left  himself 
no  resort  but  the  support  of  the  Federalists,  there 
are  many  considerations  which  would  have  induced 
me  to  prefer  him  to  Jefferson.  But  I  was  enabled 
soon  to  discover  that  he  was  determined  not  to 
shackle  himself  with  Federal  principles ;  and  it  be 
came  evident,  that  if  he  got  in  without  being  abso 
lutely  committed  in  relation  to  his  own  party,  that 
he  would  be  disposed  and  obliged  to  play  the  game 
of  McKean  upon  an  approved  plan  and  enlarged 
scale. 

';In  the  origin  of  the  business  I  had  contrived 
to  lay  hold  of  all  the  doubtful  votes  in  the  house, 
which  enabled  me,  according  to  views  which  pre 
sented  themselves,  to  protract  or  terminate  the  con 
troversy.  This  arrangement  was  easily  made,  from 
the  opinions  readily  adopted  from  the  consideration, 


1 1 8  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

that  representing  a  small  state,  without  resources 
which  could  supply  the  means  of  self -protection,  I 
should  not  dare  to  proceed  to  any  length  which 
would  jeopardize  the  constitution  or  the  safety  of 
any  state. 

"  When  the  experiment  was  fully  made,  and  ac 
knowledged  upon  all  hands  to  have  completely 
ascertained,  that  Burr  was  resolved  not  to  commit 
himself,  and  that  nothing  remained  but  to  appoint  a 
president  by  law,  or  leave  the  government  without 
one,  I  came  out  with  the  most  explicit  and  deter 
mined  declaration  of  voting  for  Jefferson.  You  can 
not  well  imp  -^e  *  e  clamor  and  vehement  invective 
to  which  I  \v-  jected  for  some  days.  We  had 

several  caucuses.  All  acknowledged  that  nothing 
but  desperate  measures  remained,  which  several 
were  disposed  to  adopt,  and  few  were  willing  openly 
to  disapprove.  We  broke  each  time  in  confusion 
and  discord,  and  the  manner  of  the  last  ballot  was 
arranged  but  a  few  minutes  before  the  ballot  was 
given.  Our  former  harmony,  however,  has  since 
been  restored. 

"  The  public  declarations  of  my  intention  to  vote 
for  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  were 
made  without  a  general  consultation,  knowing  that 
it  would  be  an  easier  task  to  close  the  breach  which 
I  foresaw,  when  it  was  the  result  of  an  act  done 
without  concurrence,  than  if  it  had  proceeded  from 
one  against  the  decision  of  the  party.  Had  it  not 


BURK-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  119 

been  for  a  single  gentleman  from  Connecticut,  the 
eastern  states  would  finally  have  voted  in  blank,  in 
the  same  manner  as  was  done  by  South  Carolina 
and  Delaware;  but  because  he  refused,  the  rest  of 
the  delegation  refused;  and  because  Connecticut  in 
sisted  on  continuing  the  ballot  for  Burr,  New  Hamp 
shire,  Massachusetts  and  Ehode  Island  refused  to 
depart  from  their  former  vote. 

"  The  means  existed  of  electing  Burr,  but  this 
required  his  cooperation.  By  deceiving  one  man 
(a  great  blockhead),  and  tempting  two  (not  incor 
ruptible),  he  might  have  secured  a  majority  of  the 
states.  He  will  never  have  anotli&r  rJ^iace  of  being 
president  of  the  United  States ;  tuja  ,«e  little  use  he 
has  made  of  the  one  which  has  occurred  gives  me 
but  an  humble  opinion  of  the  talents  of  an  unprinci 
pled  man." 

Mr.  Bayard  seems  to  have  been  wrought  up  into 
great  passion  at  the  conclusion  of  his  letter,  because 
Burr  would  not  consent  to  accept  the  presidency  of 
the  United  States  on  the  terms  proposed  by  Bayard, 
of  deceiving  one  man  and  corrupting  two  others. 
Mr.  Bayard  did  not  seem  to  notice  the  grandeur  of 
the  position  taken  by  Burr  when  he  refused  the 
presidency  rather  than  consent  that  a  wrong  might 
be  done.  Was  Burr's  conduct  that  of  "  an  unprinci 
pled  man  "?  Does  it  not  rather  refute  the  scores  of 
calumnies,  founded  upon  his  want  of  principle,  put  in 
circulation  against  him  by  Hamilton,  Jefterson  and 
others? 


1 20  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

Mr.  John  C.  Hamilton,  in  his  History  of  the  Re 
public,  (the  life  and  works  of  his  father,  Alexander 
Hamilton,)  gives  the  foregoing  letter  from  Bayard 
to  Hamilton,  to  show  that  Burr  positively  refused  to 
enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Federalists,  or  to 
make  any  attempt  in  any  way,  to  secure  their  votes 
•  at  the  election  by  the  house  of  representatives.  He 
then  proceeds  to  show  by  the  depositions  of  Bayard 
and  Smith,  that  Jefferson  did  bargain  with  them  and 
pledged  himself  to  maintain  certain  Federal  princi 
ples,  and  to  retain  in  office  certain  Federal  office 
holders,  in  return  for  which  the  contracting  Feder 
alists  were  to  withdraw  their  opposition  to  .lefferson, 
and  that  through  this  bargain  Jefferson  was  elected. 
He  also  gives  the  evidence  complete  which  exoner 
ates  Burr  from  any  attempt  to  secure  Federal  sup 
port  at  the  election  by  the  house,  and  then,  (Vol.  7, 
page  462,)  proceeds  as  follows : 

"The  course  of  Jefferson  is  placed  beyond  all 
doubt  by  evidence  which  is  wholly  irresistible,  part 
of  it  given  under  oath,  and  in  direct  contradic 
tion  of  his  own  recorded  statement.  The  testimony 
of  Bayard  is  full  and  explicit,  that  Jefferson  was  re 
quired  to  give  the  assurance  of  his  support  of  the 
public  credit,  the  maintenance  of  the  naval  system, 
and  that  subordinate  public  officers,  employed  only 
in  the  execution  of  details,  established  bylaw,  should 
not  be  removed  from  office  on  the  ground  of  their 
political  character,  nor  without  complaint  against 


BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  121 

their  conduct;  that  he,  Jefferson,  the  points  men 
tioned  having  been  stated  to  him,  authorized  the  as 
surance  to  be  given  that  these  views  corresponded 
with  his  views  and  intentions,  and  that  they  might 
confide  in  him  accordingly;  that  the  opposition  of 
Vermont,  Maryland  and  Delaware  was  immediately 
withdrawn  and  Jefferson  was  made  president.  This 
statement  is  confirmed  by  that  of  a  member  from 
Maryland,  that  the  Federalists  also  received  assur 
ances  from  a  source  on  which  they  placed  reliance, 
that  their  wishes  with  regard  to  certain  points  of 
Federal  policy  in  which  they  felt  a  deep  interes 
would  be  observed,  in  case  .Jefferson.,  was  Delected  : 
and  that  in  consequence  of  such  assurances  he  was 
elected. 

"  Grouverneur  Morris  was  supposed  to  enjoy  the 
confidence  of  his  relative,  the  member  from  Ver 
mont,  who  finally  withdrew.  A  letter  from  him  to 
Pickering  shows,  that  he  also, previous  to  the  election, 
required  and  obtained  from  Jefferson,  assurances  as 
to  his  policy. 

"  These  statements,  corroborated  by  other  facts, 
render  futile  every  attempt  to  controvert  the  allega 
tion  that  he  consented  to  adopt  the  cardinal  objects 
of  the  Federal  policy,  and  abandon  his  opposition  to 
them,  as  the  price  of  office." 

It  is  certainly  proved  conclusively  that  Jefferson 
did  agree  to  support,  "as  the  price  of  office,"  three 
of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  Federal  party —  the 


>  122  BU  RR-JE  FFE  RSON-HAMILTON . 

financial  system,  the  maintenance  of  a  navy,  and  the 
^policy  of  neutrality  with  other  countries,  and  in  ad 
dition  made  the  promise  of  permitting  all  but  the 
leading  Federal  office  holders  to  remain  in  office.  It 
is  only  justice  to  Jefferson  to  say  that  in  great  part 
he  observed  this  contract  strictly.  His  administra 
tion  was  conducted  in  its  main  features  on  Federal 
lines,  and  the  retention  of  Federal  office  holders  was 
quite  general.  Whether  he  had  become  convinced 
that  Federal  doctrines  were  correct,  or  was  only  pay 
ing  in  good  faith  the  price  promised  for  his  election, 
he  certainly  made  a  radical  departure  from  nearly 
all  the  positions  he  occupied  before  the  election. 

He  paid  the  price  agreed  upon,  but  he  had  much 
difficulty  sometimes  in  doing  it.  One  instance  will 
illustrate:  Jefferson  in  his  negotiations  with  Bay 
ard  had  expressly  agreed  to  continue  George  Lati- 
mer,  the  collector  of  the  port  at  Philadelphia,  in 
that  office.  Latimer  was  an  ultra  Federalist,  and 
had  been  active  at  all  elections  for  his  party,  and 
was  therefore  much  disliked  by  all  Republicans. 
Much  of  the  rejoicing  in  that  city  over  the  result  of 
the  late  election  was  due  to  the  belief  that  Latimer 
would  be  dismissed  and  a  Republican  given  his 
place.  Several  Republicans  made  early  application 
for  the  place,  backed  by  letters  from  their  friends. 
But  the  President  showed  no  sign  of  taking  action. 
Latimer  remained  in  position.  A  delegation  was 
sent  to  Washington  to  urge  the  collector's  removal, 


BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  1 23 

but  no  satisfactory  result  was  accomplished;  the 
collector  smiled  and  continued  in  the  discharge  of 
his  official  duties.  At  length  all  patience  was  ex 
hausted,  and  it  began  to  dawn  upon  the  disgusted 
Republicans  of  Philadelphia,  that  Latimer,  for  some 
reason,  had  a  stronger  "  pull  "  on  the  President  than 
they  had.  They  became  indignant,  meetings  were 
held,  largely  attended,  at  which  the  President  was 
roundly  abused.  They  were  furious,  and  threatened 
a  revolt.  Still  the  President  refused  to  act  and  the 
collector  refused  to  resign.  It  greatly  annoyed  Jef 
ferson,  but  he  dare  not  explain,  and  to  remove  the 
obnoxous  collector  would  have  caused  an  explosion 
which  would  have  exposed  his  sale  of  the  office  to 
the  Federalists. 

Another  very  similar  case  occurred  in  New  York. 
It  became  necessary  to  secure  the  vote  of  that  state 
to  Jefferson,  that  Theodorus  Bailey,  a  member  of 
congress. from  an  interior  district,  should  be  induced 
to  change  his  vote  from  Burr  to  Jefferson.  In  return 
for  his  doing  this  the  agents  for  Jefferson  offered 
him  the  choice  of  all  the  Federal  offices  in  the  state. 
Bailey  accepted  the  offer  and  voted  for  Jefferson. 
Afterward  when  he  called  to  receive  his  pay  the 
President  was  astounded  when  he  asked  the  ap 
pointment  of  postmaster  in  New  York  City.  "It  is 
impossible,"  said  Jefferson.  "I  dare  not  go  outside 
the  city  for  that  appointment;  my  friends  there 
would  be  indignant  if  I  did."  "  It  is  written  in  the 


]  24  BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON. 

bond/'  answered  Bailey,  "  that  I  might  choose  from 
all  the  Federal  offices  in  the  state,  and  I  have  chosen." 
Bailey  was  made  postmaster  of  New  York  City, 
though  his  residence  was  a  hundred  miles  away. 

The  evidence  proves  conclusively  that  Burr  was 
free  from  all  taint  of  intrigue  with  the  Federalists, 
or  anybody  else,  in  connection  with  the  election  in 
the 'house  of  representatives  for  president  in  1801. 
And  it  is  just  as  conclusively  proven  that  Jefferson 
did  make  pledges  to  certain  Federalists  for  the  pur 
pose  of  buying  off  their  opposition,  and  that  by  this 
means,  and  this  alone,  he  secured  his  election  to  the 
presidency  in  1801.  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  "  Nothing  is  so  desirable  to  me,  as  that  after 
mankind  shall  have  been  abused  by  such  gross  false 
hoods  as  to  events  while  passing,  their  minds  should 
at  length  be  set  to  rights  by  genuine  truth."  Mod 
ern  historians,  moved  by  the  above  sentiment,  are 
beginning  to  set  to  rights  the  gross  falsehoods  with 
which  the  minds  of  men  have  been  so  long  abused, 
and  to  tell  the  "genuine  truth  "  about  Jefferson  and 
Burr.  McMasters,  in  his  History,  Vol.  II.,  page 
525,  gives  a  brief  summary  of  this  election  intrigue. 
He  says: 

"  James  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  was  the  Federal 
chief.  At  the  opening  of  the  contest  he  first  made 
sure  of  the  doubtful  votes,  and,  holding  the  result  of 
the  election  in  his  hand,  began  to  consider  the  fitness 
of  giving  it  to  Burr.  It  was  expected  that  Burr 


BURR-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON.  125 

would  pledge  himself  to  Federal  measures  in  return 
for  Federal  support.  He  would  not;  and  Bayard, 
aided  by  Hamilton,  spent  all  his  energies  in  per 
suading  the  Federalists  to  make  Jefferson  their 
choice.  The  task  was  a  hard  one.  Caucus  after 
caucus  was  held,  only  to  break  up  in  discord  and 
confusion.  The  final  arrangement  was  in  conse 
quence  of  assurances  from  Jefferson  that  the  wishes 
of  the  Federalists  corresponded  with  his  own  ;  that 
he  would  preserve  the  navy ;  that  he  would  maintain 
the  public  credit ;  that  he  would  not  remove  any  of 
the  host  of  petty  office  holders  merely  because  they 
had,  in  the  late  campaign,  been  faithful  to  the  Fed 
eral  cause.  The  price  settled,  the  Federal  members 
from  Maryland,  Delaware  and  Vermont  cast  blank 
ballots,  and  the  Republicans  secured  ten  states." 
Thus  it- was  that  Thomas  Jefferson  bought  his  elec 
tion  to  the  presidency  in  1801. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  DUEL. 


The  Election  in  New  York  —  An  Unequal  Contest  —  The  Conspiracy 
Prevails  — Hamilton's  Selfish  Action  —  Correspondence  Between 
Burr  and  Hamilton  —  The  Challenge  — The  Combat  — Hamilton 
Fatally  mm  — Ruf us  King's  Explanation  —  Did  Not  Advise  Ham 
ilton  to  Accept  the  Challenge—  Burr  Justified. 


The  election  for  governor  in  New  York,  in  1804, 
was,  in  many  respects,  a  most  remarkable  contest. 
On  the  one  side  stood  Burr,  alone,  appealing  to  the 
people  of  his  state  for  vindication.  On  the  other 
side  appeared  a  triumvirate  of  rival  politicians, 
whose  hatred  of  eachotHer  was  only  exceeded  by 
their  hatred  and  fear  of  Burr.  The  president  of  the 
United  States,  with  all  the  power  and  patronage  of 
the  general  government;  the  governor  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  with  great  family  influence  and  large 
wealth  to  sustain  him;  and  last,  but  more  dangerous 
than  either  of  the  others,  came  Alexander  Hamilton, 
with  a  strong  political  party  at  his  command,  form 
ing  the  most  powerful  combination  ever  united  to 
break  down  and  destroy  the  influence  of  one  man. 
It  was  an  unequal  fight,  and  the  result  could  be 


THE    DUEL.  127 

readily  anticipated,  but  it  was  to  all  the  parties  con 
cerned  a  fight  to  the  death. 

Jefferson  not  only  proscribed  every  man  who 
dared  to  be  a  friend  to  Burr,  but  turned  loose  every 
place-man  of  the  government  to  revile  and  calumni 
ate  him.  Clinton  subsidized  a  low  and  scurrilous 
press  to  manufacture  and  publish  malicious  false 
hoods  against  the  candidate.  But  Hamilton  pursued 
a  course  far  more  dangerous  —  he  turned  loose  the 
whole  Federal  party  of  the  state  upon  Burr.  It  was 
this,  and  this  alone,  that  defeated  him.  In  any  con 
test  inside  his  own  party,  Burr  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  either  Jefferson  or  Clinton,  or  both  combined. 
He  could  and  did  carry  with  him  the  Republicans 
of  New  York,  overwhelmingly,  against  all  opposi 
tion,  but  he  could  not  overcome  these  with  the  whole 
Federal  host^Jled  by  Hamilton,  united  against  him. 

Hamilton's  course,  as  a  party  leader,  was  singu 
larly  selfish.  The  control  "of"  N^w—York  had,  for 
some  years,  been  alternating  between  parties.  Burr 
had  by  a  supreme  effort,  wrested  the  state  from  the 
Federalists,  by  a  small  majority,  four  years  before. 
There  had  been  no  material  change  in  the  relative 
strength  of  parties  in  the  mean  time,  though  it  is 
probable  that  in  a  regular  contest  the  Republicans 
could  have  increased  their  majority ;  but  there  was 
a  factional  fight  going  on  among  the  Republicans, — 
they  had  two  candidates  in  the  field  for  governor. 
The  door  was  thus  thrown  open  for  the  Federalists 


128  THE    DUEL. 

to  enter ;  they  could,  in  all  probability,  have  walked 
in  and  taken  possession.  This  was  the  view  taken 
by  most  of  the  prominent  Federalists.  But  Hamil 
ton  had  other  notions;  his  personal  hatred  of  Burr 
far  outweighed  his  devotion  to  party.  He  deter 
mined  to  sacrifice  his  party,  and  forego  this  oppor 
tunity  for  party  success,  to  make  a  certainty  of  de 
feating  Burr,  and  to  make  defeat  decisive  and  disas 
trous  it  must  be  made  to  seem  the  work  of  his  own 
political  party  — he  must  be  beaten  by  a  Republican. 
The  Federalists  called  a  caucus  of  their  leading 
men  at  Albany,  to  select  a  candidate  for  governor. 
Hamilton  attended  this  meeting  with  written  reasons 
why  they  should  not  put  up  a  candidate  of  their 
own,  but  in  preference  should  unite  with  the  Clinton 
faction  in  opposition  to  Burr.  In  this  document 
Hamilton's  real  reasons  for  the  long  and  secret  efforts 
he  had  been  making  to  destroy  Burr's  reputation 
and  influence  throughout  the  country,  are  fully  re 
vealed.  He  sees  clearly  that  Burr's  election  in  the 
coming  contest  for  governor  would  certainly  be  fol 
lowed  by  his  election  to  the  presidency.  He  knows 
and  he  says  that  Burr  "  is  a  more  adroit,  able  and 
daring  chief"  than  Jefferson;  that  he  would,  if 
placed  at  the  head  of  his  party,  not  only  reunite 
"  the  scattered  fragments  of  the  Democratic  party," 
but  would  also  draw  to  it  "  a  strong  detachment 
from  the  Federalists."  He  declares  that  ua  further 
effect  of  his  elevation"  will  be  "to  present  to  the 


THE    DUEL.  129 

confidence  of  New  England,  a  man,  already  the  man 
of  the  Democratic  leaders  of  that  country,  and  towards 
whom  the  mass  of  the  people  have  no  weak  predi 
lection,"  thus  declaring  the  great  popularity  of  Burr 
with  the  leaders  and  the  body  of  the  people  in  those 
states.  New  England  was  the  stronghold  of  the 
Federal  party,  but  Hamilton  insisted  that  if  Burr 
were  not  defeated  in  his  home  state,  and  thus  pre 
vented  from  reaching  the  presidency,  "it  will  give 
him  fair  play  to  disorganize  New  England,"  to  the 
detriment  of  the  Federal  party.  \It  was  an  appeal 
to  the  Federalists  of  New  York  toTsacrinee  them 
selves  for  the  sake  of  the  party  at  large  and  the  de 
struction  of  the  party's  most  dangerous  political  op 
ponent.  • 

Hamilton  also  pointed  out  the  fact  that  Lansing, 
the  Democratic  candidate  whom  he  urged  them  to 
support,  was  of  such  personal  character  that  "it  is 
morally  certain  that  the  Democratic  party,  already 
much  divided  and  weakened,  will  moulder  and  break 
asunder  more  and  more."  He  pays  Burr  the  follow 
ing  compliment :  "  Though  detested  by  some  of  the 
leading  Clintonians,  he  is  certainly  not  personally 
disagreeable  to  the  great  body  of  them,  and  it  will  be 
no  difficult  task  for  a  man  of  talents,  intrigue  and 
address,  possessing  the  chair  of  government,  to  rally 
the  great  body  of  them  under  his  standard,  and 
thereby  to  consolidate  for  personal  purposes,  the 
mass  of  the  Clintonians,  his  own  adherents  among 


130  THE    DUEL. 

the  Democrats,  and  such  Federalists  as,  from  per 
sonal  good  will  or  interested  motives,  may  give  him 
upport." 

It  was  not  until  Burr's  Candidacy  for  governor 
of  New  York,  whea  gome^of^tie  more  prominent 
Federalists  came  to  his  support,  that  Burr  received 

m  them  the  first  intimation  he  ever  had  of  Ham- 
ton's  duplicity  toward  him.  The  first  reports  were 
vague  and  indefinite,  and  Burr  did  not  believe  them. 
He  went  frankly  to  Hamilton  for  explanation. 
Burr  knew  so  little  that  Hamilton  soon  persuaded 
him  that  he  had  done  nothing  but  what  was  fairly 
proper  between  political  opponents.  Burr  accepted 
his  explanation,  and  they  parted  professedly  as 
friends.  Thus  it  remained  until  proof  positive  was 
furnished  Burr,  that  Hamilton  was  then  and  had 
been  for  years,  pursuing  him  with  venomous  calumny 
and  vile  detraction.  From  that  moment  Burr  re 
garded  him  with  utter  contempt. 

The  election  for  governor  in  New  York  in  1804 
was  not  only  an  unusually  bitter  contest,  but  it  was 
attended  by  the  vilest  and  most  atrocious  calumny 
against  character  known  to  the  history  of  that  state. 
An  event  growing  out  of  the  bitter  feeling  created 
by  the  character  of  the  contest,  has  become  memo 
rable,  and  must  be  noticed  here.  It  brought  about 
results  disastrous  to  both  Hamilton  and  Burr.  The 
story  is  a  sad  one,  and  we  will  tell  it  as  briefly  as  we 
can.  As  the  statement  made  by  Judge  Van  Ness, 


THE    DUEL.  131 

has  been  regarded  as  strictly  reliable,  we  will  repeat 
his  words: 

"On  the  afternoon  of  the  17th  of  June,"  (1804,) 
says  Judge  Van  Ness,  "I  received  a  note  from  Colo 
nel  Burr  requesting  me  to  call  on  him  the  follow 
ing  morning.  Upon  my  arrival  he  alleged  that  it 
had,  of  late,  been  frequently  stated  to  him  that  Gen 
eral  Hamilton  had,  at  different  times  and  upon  vari 
ous  occasions,  used  language  and  expressed  opinions 
highly  injurious  to  his  reputation :  that  he  had  for 
some  time  felt  the  necessity  for  calling  on  General 
Hamilton  for  an  explanation  of  his  conduct,  but  that 
the  statements  which  had  been  made  to  him  did  not 
appear  sufficiently  authentic  to  justify  the  measure: 
that  a  newspaper  had,  however,  been  recently  put 
into  his  hands,  in  which  he  perceived  a  letter  signed 
Charles  P.  Cooper,  containing  something  which  he 
thought  demanded  immediate  investigation.  Urged 
by  these  circumstances,  and  justified  by  the  evident 
opinion  of  his  friends,  he  had  determined  to  write 
General  Hamilton  a  note  upon  the  subject,  which  he 
requested  me  to  deliver.  I  assented  to  this  request, 
and,  on  my  return  to  the  city,  which  was  at  eleven 
o'clock  the  same  morning,  I  delivered  to  General 
Hamilton  the  note  which  I  received  from  Colonel 
Burr  for  that  purpose. 

"  This  note  was  as  follows: 

'NEW  YORK,  June  18,  1804. 

SIR:-- -I  send  for   your  perusal  a   letter  signed 


132  THE    DUEL. 

Cl  arles  D.  Cooper,  which,  though  apparently  pub 
lished  some  time  ago,  has  but  very  recently  come  to 
my  knowledge.  Mr.  Van  Ness,  who  does  me  the 
favor  to  deliver  this,  will  point  out  to  you  what  clause 
of  the  letter  to  which  I  particularly  request  your  at 
tention.  You  must  perceive,  sir,  the  necessity  for  a 
prompt  and  unqualified  acknowledgment  or  denial 
of  the  use  of  any  expressions  which  would  warrant 
the  assertions  of  Mr.  Cooper. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
GENERAL  HAMILTON.  A.  BURR.' 

"  General  Hamilton  read  the  note  of  Mr.  Burr, 
and  the  printed  letter  of  Mr.  Cooper  to  which  it  re 
fers,  and  remarked  that  they  required  some  consider 
ation,  and  that  in  the  course  of  the  day  he  would 
send  an  answer  to  my  office.  At  half-past  ten  o'clock 
General  Hamilton  called  at  my  house,  and  said  that 
a  variety  of  engagements  would  demand  his  atten 
tion  during  the  whole  of  that  day  and  the  next;  but 
that  on  Wednesday,  the  20th  inst.,  be  would  furnish 
me  with  such  answer  to  Colonel  Burr's  letter  as  he 
should  deem  most  suitable  and  compatible  with  his 
feelings.  In  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  the  20th, 
while  I  was  from  home,  the  following  letter,  ad 
dressed  to  Colonel  Burr,  was  left  at  my  house,  under 

cover  to  me  : 

'  NEW  Y^ORK,  June  20,  1804. 

SIR:  —  I  have  maturely  reflected  on  the  subject 


THE    DUEL.  133 

of  your  letter  of  the  18th  inst.,  and  the  more  I  have 
reflected  the  more  I  have  become  convinced  that  I 
could  not,  without  manifest  impropriety,  make  the 
avowal  or  disavowal  which  you  seem  to  think  neces 
sary.  The  clause  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Yan  Ness  is  in 
these  terms :  '  I  could  detail  to  you  a  still  more  des 
picable  opinion  which  General  Hamilton  has  ex 
pressed  of  Mr.  Burr.'  To  endeavor  to  discover  the 
meaning  of  this  declaration,  I  was  obliged  to  seek 
in  the  antecedent  part  of  this  letter  for  the  opinion 
to  which  it  referred  as  having  been  already  dis 
closed.  I  found  it  in  these  words:  '  C4eneral  Hamil 
ton  and  Judge  Kent  have  declared,  in  substance,  that 
they  look  upon  Mr.  Burr  to  be  a  dangerous  man,  and 
one  who  ought  not  to  be  trusted  with  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment.' 

The  language  of  Doctor  Cooper  plainly  implies 
that  he  considered  this  opinion  of  you,  which  he  at 
tributes  to  me,  as  a  despicable  one;  but  he  affirms 
that  I  have  expressed  some  other  more  despicable, 
without,  however,  mentioning  to  whom,  when,  or 
where.  '  Tis  evident  that  the  phrase,  '  still  more  de 
spicable'  admits  of  infinite  shades,  from  very  light 
to  very  dark.  How  am  I  to  judge  of  the  degree  in 
tended?  Or  how  shall  I  annex  any  precise  idea  to 
language  so  indefinite? 

Between  gentlemen,  despicable  and  more  despica 
ble  are  not  worth  the  pains  of  distinction  :  when, 
therefore,  you  do  not  interrogate  me  as  to  the  opin- 


134  THE    DUEL. 

ion  which  is  specifically  ascribed  to  me,  I  must  con 
clude  that  you  view  it  as  within  the  limits  to  which 
the  animadversions  of  political  opponents  upon  each 
other  may  justifiably  extend,  and,  consequently,  as 
not  warranting  the  idea  which  Doctor  Cooper  ap 
pears  to  entertain.  If  so,  what  precise  inference 
could  you  draw  as  a  guide  for  your  conduct,  were  I 
to  acknowledge  that  I  had  expressed  an  opinion  of 
you  still  more  despicable  than  the  one  which  is  par 
ticularized?  How  could  you  be  sure  that  even  this 
opinion  had  exceeded  the  bounds  which  you  would 
yourself  deem  admissible  between  political  oppo 
nents? 

But  I  forbear  further  comment  on  the  embarrass 
ment  to  which  the  requisition  you  have  made  natur 
ally  leads.  The  occasion  forbids  a  more  ample  illus 
tration,  though  nothing  could  be  more  easy  than  to 
pursue  it. 

Repeating  that  I  cannot  reconcile  it  with  propri 
ety  to  make  the  acknowledgment  or  denial  you  de 
sire,  I  will  add,  that  I  deem  it  inadmissible,  on  princi 
ple,  to  consent  to  be  interrogated  as  to  the  justice  of 
the  inferences  which  may  be  drawn  by  others  from 
whatever  I  have  said  of  a  political  opponent  in  the 
course  of  fifteen  years  competition.  If  there  were 
no  other  objection  to  it,  this  is  sufficient,  that  it  tends 
to  expose  my  sincerity  and  delicacy  to  injurious  im 
putations  from  «very  person  who  may,  at  any  time, 
have  conceived  the  import  of  my  expressions  differ- 


THE    DUEL.  135 

ently  from  what  I  may  then  have  intended  or  may 
afterward  recollect.  I  stand  ready  to  avow  or  disavow 
promptly  and  explicitly  any  precise  or  definite  opin 
ion  which  I  may  be  charged  with  having  declared 
of  any  gentleman.  More  than  this  cannot  fitly  be 
expected  from  me;  and,  especially,  it  cannot  be  rea 
sonably  expected  that  I  shall  enter  into  any  explan 
ation  upon  a  basis  so  vague  as  that  you  have 
adopted.  I  trust,  on  more  reflection,  you  will  see  the 
matter  in  the  same  light  with  me.  If  not,  I  can 
only  regret  the  circumstance,  and  must  abide  the 
consequences. 

The  publication  of  Dr.  Cooper's  was  never  seen 
by  me  till  after  the  receipt  of  your  letter. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

COLONEL  BURR.  A.  HAMILTON.'  " 

Judge  Van  Ness  continues :  "  On  the  morning 
of  Thursday,  the  21st,  I  delivered  to  Colonel  Burr 
the  above  letter,  and,  in  the  evening  was  furnished 
with  the  following  letter  for  General  Hamilton, 
which  I  delivered  to  him  at  12  o'clock  on  Friday, 

the  22nd  inst. : 

'NEW  YORK.  June  21,  1804. 

SIR: — Your  letter  of  the  20th  inst.  has  been  this 
day  received.  Having  considered  it  attentively,  I 
regret  to  find  in  it  nothing  of  that  sincerity  and  del 
icacy  which  you  profess  to  value. 

Political  opposition  can  never  absolve  gentlemen 
from  the  necessity  of  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  laws 


136  THE    DUEL. 

of  honor  and  the  rules  of  decorum.     I  neither  claim 
such  privilege  nor  indulge  it  in  others. 

The  common  sense  of  mankind  affixes  to  the  epi 
thet  adopted  by  Doctor  Cooper  the  idea  of  dishonor. 
It  has  been  publicly  applied  to  me  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  your  name.  The  question  is  not  whether  he 
has  understood  the  meaning  of  the  word,  or  has 
used  it  according  to  syntax  and  with  grammatical 
accuracy,  but  whether  you  have  authorized  this  appli 
cation,  either  directly  or  by  uttering  expressions  or 
opinions  derogatory  to  my  honor.  The  time  '  when  ' 
is  in  your  own  knowledge,  but  no  way  material  to 
me,  as  the  calumny  has  now  first  been  disclosed  so 
as  to  become  the  subject  of  my  notice,  and  as  the  ef 
fect  is  present  and  palpable. 

Your  letter  has  furnished  me  with  new  reasons 
for  requiring  a  definite  reply. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient 

GENERAL  HAMILTON.  A.  BURR.' 

"  General  Hamilton  perused  it,  and  said  it  was  such 
a  letter  as  he  had  hoped  not  to  have  received ;  that 
it  contained  several  offensive  expressions,  and  seemed 
to  close  the  door  to  all  further  reply ;  that  he  had 
hoped  the  answer  he  had  returned  to  Colonel  Burr's 
first  letter  would  have  given  a  different  direction  to 
the  controversy ;  that  he  thought  Mr.  Burr  would 
have  perceived  that  there  was  a  difficulty  in  his 
making  a  more  specific  reply,  and  would  have  de 
sired  him  to  state  what  had  fallen  from  him  that 


THE    DUEL.  137 

might  have  given  rise  to  the  inference  of  Doctor 
Cooper.  He  would  have  done  this  frankly;  and  he 
believed  it  would  not  have  been  found  to  exceed  the 
limits  justifiable  among  political  opponents.  If  Mr. 
Burr  should  be  disposed  to  give  a  different  complex 
ion  to  the  discussion,  he  was  willing  to  consider  the 
last  letter  not  delivered;  but  if  that  communica 
tion  was  not  withdrawn,  he  could  make  no  reply, 
and  Mr.  Burr  must  pursue  such  course  as  he  should 
deem  most  proper. 

"At  the  request  of  General  Hamilton,  I  replied 
that  I  would  detail  these  ideas  to  Colonel  Burr;  but 
added,  that  if  in  his  first  letter  he  had  introduced 
the  idea  (if  it  was  a  correct  one)  that  he  could  recol 
lect  of  no  terms  that  would  justify  the  construction 
made  by  Doctor  Cooper,  it  would,  in  my  opinion, 
have  opened  a  door  for  accommodation.  General 
Hamilton  then  repeated  the  same  objections  to  this 
measure  which  were  stated  in  substance  in  his  first 
letter  to  Colonel  Burr. 

"When  I  was  about  leaving  him  he  observed, 
that  if  I  preferred  it,  he  would  commit  his  refusal  to 
writing.  I  replied  that  if  he  had  resolved  not  to 
answer  Colonel  Burr's  letter,  that  I  could  report  to 
him  verbally,  without  giving  him  the  trouble  of 
writing  it.  He  again  repeated  his  determination  not 
to  answer;  and  that  Colonel  Burr  must  pursue  such 
course  as  he  should  deem  most  proper. 

"In  the  afternoon  of  this  day  I  reported  to  Col- 


138  THE    DUEL. 

onel  Burr,  at  his  house  out  of  town,  the  answer  and 
the  determination  of  General  Hamilton,  and  prom 
ised  to  call  on  him  again  in  the  evening  to  learn  his 
further  wishes.  I  was  detained  in  town,  however, 
this  evening  by  some  private  business,  and  did  not 
call  on  Colonel  Burr  until  the  following  morning, 
Saturday,  the  23rd  June.  I  then  received  from  him 
a  letter  for  General  Hamilton,  but  which,  as  will 
presently  be  explained,  was  never  delivered.  AVhen 
I  returned  with  this  letter  to  the  city,  which  was 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day, 
I  sent  a  note  to  General  Hamilton's  office,  and  also 
to  his  house,  desiring  to  know  when  it  would  be  con 
venient  to  receive  a  communication.  The  servant, 
as  he  informed  me,  received  for  answer  at  both 
places,  that  General  Hamilton  had  gone  to  his  coun 
try  seat. 

"  At  nine  o'clock  on  Monday,  the  25th  of  June,  I 
called  on  General  Hamilton,  at  his  house  in  Cedar 
street,  to  present  the  letter  already  alluded  to,  and 
with  instructions  for  a  verbal  communication,  of 
which  the  following  notes,  handed  me  hy  Mr.  Burr, 
were  to  be  the  basis.  The  substance  of  which, 
though  in  terms  as  much  softened  as  my  injunctions 
would  permit,  was  accordingly  communicated  to 
General  Hamilton,  as  follows: 

1A.  Burr,  far  from  conceiving  that  rivalship 
authorizes  a  latitude  not  otherwise  justifiable,  al 
ways  feels'greater  delicacy  in  such  cases,  and  would 


THE    DUEL.  139 

think  it  meanness  to  speak  of  a  rival  but  in  terms 
of  respect;  to  do  justice  to  his  merits,  to  be  silent  to 
his  foibles.  Such  has  invariably  been  his  conduct 
towards  Jay,  Adams  and  Hamilton;  the  only  three 
who  can  be  supposed  to  have  stood  in  that  relation 
to  him. 

'  That  he  has  too  much  reason  to  believe  that,  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  there  has  been  no  reciproc 
ity.  For  several  years  his  name  has  been  lent  to 
the  support  of  base  slanders.  He  has  never  had  the 
generosity,  the  magnanimity,  or  the  candor  to  con 
tradict  or  disavow.  Burr  forbears  to  particularize, 
as  it  could  only  tend  to  produce  new  irritations ;  but, 
having  made  great  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  har 
mony;  having  exercised  forbearance  until  it  ap 
proached  to  humiliation,  he  has  seen  no  effect  pro 
duced  by  such  conduct  but  a  repetition  of  injury. 
He  is  obliged  to  conclude  that  there  is,  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Hamilton,  a  settled  and  implacable  malevo 
lence;  that  he  will  never  cease  in  his  conduct  to 
wards  Mr.  Burr,  to  violate  those  courtesies  of  life; 
and  that,  hence,  he  has  no  alternative  but  to  an 
nounce  these  things  to  the  world;  which,  consist 
ently  with  Mr.  Burr's  ideas  of  propriety,  can  be 
done  in  no  way  but  that  which  he  has  adopted.  He 
is  incapable  of  revenge,  still  less  is  he  capable  of  imi 
tating  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  by  committing 
secret  depredations  on  his  fame  and  character.  But 
these  things  must  have  an  end.' 


140  THE    DUEL. 

''Before  I  delivered  the  written  communication 
with  which  I  was  charged,  General  Hamilton  said 
he  had  prepared  a  written  reply  to  Colonel  Burr's 
letter  of  the  21st,  which  he  had  left  with  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton,  and  wished  me  to  receive.  I  answered  that 
the  communication  I  had  to  make  to  him  was  predi 
cated  upon  the  idea  that  he  would  make  no  reply  to 
Mr.  Burr's  letter  of  the  21st  of  June,  and  that  I 
had  so  understood  him  in  our  conversation  of  the 
22nd.  General  Hamilton  said  that  he  believed,  be 
fore  I  left  him  he  had  proffered  a  written  reply. 
I  observed  that,  when  he  answered  verbally,  he  had 
offered  to  put  that  refusal  in  writing;  but  that,  if  he 
had  now  prepared  a  written  reply,  I  would  receive 
it  with  pleasure.  I  accordingly  called  on  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton  on  the  same  day  (Monday,  June  25th),  be 
tween  one  and  two  o'clock  p.  M.,  and  stated  to  him 
the  result  of  my  recent  interview  with  General 
Hamilton,  and  the  reference  he  had  made  to  him. 

"I  then  received  from  Mr.  Pendleton  that  which 
follows : 

'  SIR  :  — Your  first  letter,  in  a  style  too  peremptory, 
made  a  demand,  in  my  opinion,  unprecedented  and 
unwarrantable,  My  answer,  pointing  out  the  em 
barrassment,  gave  an  opportunity  to  take  a  less 
exceptionable  course.  You  have  not  chosen  to  do  it; 
but,  by  your  last  letter,  received  this  day,  containing 
expressions  indecorous  and  improper,  you  have  in- 


THE    DUEL.  141 

creased  the  difficulties  to  explanation  intrinsically 
incident  to  the  nature  of  your  application. 

'If  by  a  "definite  reply''  you  mean  the  direct 
avowal  or  disavowal  required  in  your  first  letter,  I 
have  no  other  answer  to  give  than  that  which  has 
already  been  given.  If  you  mean  anything  different, 
admitting  of  greater  latitude,  it  is  requisite  you 
should  explain. 

'I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  ser 
vant,  ALEX.  HAMILTON.' 

A.  BURR,  Esq. 

"  This  letter  was  unsealed,  but  I  did  not  read  it 
in  his  presence.  After  some  conversation  relative  to 
what  General  Hamilton  would  say  on  the  subject  of 
the  present  controversy,  during  which  Mr.  Pendleton 
read  from  a  paper  his  ideas  on  the  subject,  he  left  me 
for  the  purpose  of  seeing  and  consulting  Mr.  Hamil 
ton,  taking  the  paper  with  him.  In  about  an  hour 
he  called  at  my  house.  I  informed  him  that  I  had 
shown  to  Colonel  Burr  the  letter  he  had  given 
me  from  General  Hamilton ;  that  in  his  opinion  it 
amounted  to  nothing  more  than  the  verbal  reply  I 
had  already  reported ;  that  it  left  the  business  pre 
cisely  where  it  then  was;  that  Mr.  Burr  had  very 
explicitly  stated  the  injuries  he  had  received  and  the 
reparation  he  demanded,  and  that  he  did  not  think 
it  proper  to  be  asked  now  for  further  explanation. 
Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  conversation  I  in 
formed  him  that  Colonel  Burr  required  a  general 


142  THE    DUEL. 

disavowal  of  any  intention,  on  the  part  of  General 
Hamilton,  in  his  various  conversations,  to  convey 
expressions  derogatory  to  the  honor  of  Mr.  Burr. 
Mr.  Pendleton  replied  that  he  believed  General  Ham 
ilton  would  have  no  objections  to  make  such  declara 
tion,  and  left  me  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  him, 
requesting  me  to  call  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon 
for  an  answer.  I  called  on  him  accordingly  about 
six  o'clock.  He  then  observed  that  General  Hamil 
ton  declined  making  such  a  disavowal  as  I  had  stated 
in  our  last  conversation;  that  he,  Mr.  Pendleton,  did 
not  then  perceive  the  whole  force  and  extent  of  it; 
and  presented  me  with  the  following  paper,  which  I 
transmitted  in  the  evening  to  Mr.  Burr. 

"  In  answer  to  a  letter  properly  adapted  to  obtain 
from  General  Hamilton  a  declaration  whether  he  had 
charged  Colonel  Burr  with  any  particular  instance  of 
dishonorable  conduct,  or  had  impeached  his  private 
character,  either  in  the  conversation  alluded  to  by 
Doctor  Cooper  or  in  any  other  particular  instance  to 
be  specified,  he  would  be  able  to  answer  consistently 
with  his  honor  and  the  truth,  in  substance,  that  the 
conversation  to  which  Doctor  Cooper  alluded  turned 
wholly  on  political  topics,  and  did  not  attribute  to 
Colonel  Burr  any  instance  of  dishonorable  conduct, 
nor  relate  to  his  private  character;  and  in  relation 
to  any  other  language  or  conversation  of  General 
Hamilton  which  Colonel  Burr  will  specify,  a  prompt 
and  frank  avowal  or  denial  will  be  given. 


THE    DUEL.  143 

-The  following  day  (Tuesday,  26th  June),  as 
early  as  was  convenient,  I  had  an  interview  with 
Colonel  Burr,  who  informed  me  that  he  considered 
General  Hamilton's  proposition  a  mere  evasion,  that 
evinced  a  desire  to  leave  the  injurious  impressions 
which  had  arisen  from  the  conversations  of  General 
Hamilton  in  full  force;  that  when  he  had  undertaken 
to  investigate  the  damage  his  honor  had  sustained,  it 
would  be  unworthy  of  him  not  to  make  that  inves 
tigation  complete." 

Following  this  came  a  correspondence  between 
the  seconds  of  the  parties,  which  did  not  change  the 
situation  in  the  least.  Judge  Van  Ness,  on  the  part 
of  Burr,  insisting  on  a  general  disavowal  of  any 
intention  on  the  part  of  Hamilton,  in  his  conversa 
tions,  to  convey  expressions  derogatory  to  the  honor 
of  Burr,  and  on  the  part  of  Hamilton  Mr.  Pendleton 
urging  that  the  inquiry  be  confined  to  some  more 
particularly  specified  occurrence.  The  situation  re 
mained  almost  precisely  as  the  principals  had  left  it, 
when  on  the  27th  of  June  the  challenge  was  pre 
sented  and  accepted,  after  which  Mr.  Pendleton  re 
marked  that  court  was  then  sitting,  in  which  General 
Hamilton  had  much  business  to  transact,  and  that  he 
had  also  some  private  arrangements  to  make,  which 
would  render  some  delay  unavoidable.  After  several 
interviews  the  seconds  finally  arranged  that  the 
meeting  should  be  on  the  morning  ot  the  llth  of 
July.  The  particulars  of  the  duel  are  given  in  a 


144  THE    DUEL. 

statement  drawn  up  and  mutually  agreed  to  by  the 
seconds.  This  statement  is  as  follows: 

"  Colonel  Burr  arrived  first  on  the  ground,  as  had 
been  previous!}'  agreed.  When  General  Hamilton 
arrived,  the  parties  exchanged  salutations,  and  the 
seconds  proceeded  to  make  their  arrangements.  They 

r  measured  the  distance,  full  ten  paces,  and  cast  lots 
for  the  choice  of  position,  as  also  to  determine  by 
whom  the  word  should  be  given,  both  of  which  fell 
to  the  second  of  General  Hamilton.  They  then  pro 
ceeded  to  load  the  pistols  in  each  other's  presence, 
after  which  the  parties  took  their  stations.  The 
gentleman  who  was  to  give  the  word  then  explained 
to  the  parties  the  rules  which  were  to  govern  them 
in  firing,  which  were  as  follows:  'The  parties  being 
placed  at  their  stations,  the  second  who  gives  the 
word  shall  ask  them  whether  they  are  ready :  being 
answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  shall  say,  present! 
After  this  the  parties  shall  present  and  fire  when 
they  please.  If  one  fires  before  the  other,  the  oppo 
site  second  shall  say  one,  two,  three,  fire,  and  he  shall 
then  fire  or  lose  his  fire.' 

"He  then  asked  if  they  were  prepared;  being 
answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  gave  the  word  present, 
as  had  been  agreed  on.  and  both  parties  presented 
and  fired  in  succession.  The  intervening  time  is  not 
expressed,  as  the  seconds  do  not  precisely  agree  on 
that  point.  The  fire  of  Colonel  Burr  took  effect,  and 
General  Hamilton  almost  instantly  fell.  Colonel 


TH"     DUEL.  145 

Burr  advanced  towards  General  Hamilton  with  a 
manner  and  gesture  that  appeared  to  General  Ham 
ilton's  friend  to  be  expressive  of  regret ;  but,  without 
speaking,  turned  about  and  withdrew,  being  urged 
from  the  field  by  his  friend,  as  has  been  subsequently 
stated,  with  a  view  to  prevent  his  being  recognized 
by  the  surgeon  and  bargemen  who  were  approach 
ing.  No  further  communication  took  place  between 
the  principals,  and  the  barge  that  carried  Colonel 
Burr  immediately  returned  to  the  city.  We  conceive 
it  proper  to  add,  that  the  conduct  of  the  parties  in 
this  interview  was  perfectly  proper,  as  suited  the 
occasion." 

The  foregoing  statement  was  agreed  to  and  signed 
by  both  the  seconds,  but  there  were  two  important 
points  about  which  they  could  not  agree.  "  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton  expressed  a  confident  opinion  that  General 
Hamilton  did  not  fire  first,  and  that  he  did  not  fire 
at  all  at  Colonel  Burr.  Mr.  Van  Ness  seemed  equally 
confident  in  opinion  that  General  Hamilton  did  fire 
first;  and,  of  course,  it  must  have  been  at  his  antag 
onist."  The  parties  met  at  Weehawken,  on  the  New 
Jersey  shore,  at  7  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning, 
July  11,  1804.  General  Hamilton  died  the  next  day 
at  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon;  and  on  Saturday,  the 
14th.  he  was  interred  with  military  honors,  and  an 
appropriate  oration  was  delivered  by  his  personal 
friend,  Gouverneur  Morris. 


146  THE  DT-.JC:L. 

Among  the  papers  left  by  Hamilton  was  one 
which  he  prepared,  as  he  says,  "  on  my  expected  inter 
view  with  Colonel  Burr.  I  think  it  proper  to  make 
some  remarks  explanatory  of  my  conduct,  motives, 
and  views."  From  this  paper  we  make  the  following 
extract.  After  reviewing  the  reasons  why  he  did 
not  desire  the  interview,  he  proceeds  to  say :  y  "But 
it  was,  as  I  conceive,  impossible  for  me  to  avoid  it. 
There  were  intrinsic  difficulties  in  the  thing,  and 
artificial  embarrassments  from  the  manner  of  pro 
ceeding  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Burr.  Intrinsic, 
because  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  my  animadver 
sions  on  the  political  principles,  character  and  views 
of  Colonel  Burr  have  been  extremely  severe;  and,  on 
different  occasions,  I,  in  common  with  many  others, 
have  made  very  unfavorable  criticisms  on  particular 
instances  of  the  private  conduct  of  this  gentleman. 

"  In  proportion  as  these  impressions  were  enter 
tained  with  sincerity,  and  uttered  with  motives  and 
for  purposes  which  might  appear  to  me  commend 
able,  would  be  the  difficulty  (until  they  could  be 
removed  by  evidence  of  their  being  erroneous)  of 
explanation  or  apology.  The  disavowal  required  of 
me  by  Colonel  Burr,  in  a  general  and  definite  form, 
was  out  of  my  power,  if  it  had  really  been  proper  for 
me  to  submit  to  be  questioned ;  but  I  was  sincerely 
of  the  opinion  that  this  could  not  be;  and  in  this 
opinion  I  was  confirmed  by  that  of  a  very  moderate 
and  judicious  friend  whom  I  consultecTV 


THE    DUEL.  147 

Hamilton  here  repeats  what  he  so  constantly 
urged  in  his  correspondence  with  Burr,  that  the  dis 
avowal  demanded,  "in  a  general  and  definite  form," 
was  improper  in  form  and  manner,  a^d  that  Burr 
had  no  right  thus  to  question  him.  ^Hamilton  had 
no  doubt  forgotten  that  it  was  precisely  the  form  and 
manner  in  which  he  had,  on  a  former  occasion, 
questioned  John  Adams,  and  had  demanded  a  disa 
vowal  in  the  same  general  and  definite  terms  under 

— "A 

quite  similar  circumstances. 

On  the  1st  of  Augji%-i800,  IIauiilli>M~^wrote 
Adams  a  note  as  follows:  "It  has  been  repeatedly 
mentioned  to  me,  that  you  have,  on  different  occa 
sions,  asserted  the  existence  of  a  British  faction  in 
this  country,  embracing  a  number  of  leading  or  influ 
ential  characters  of  the  Federal  party,  (as  usually 
denominated,)  and  that  you  have  sometimes  named 
me,  at  others  plainly  alluding  to  me,  as  one  of  this 
description  of  persons.  And  I  have  likewise  been 
assured,  that  of  late,  some  of  your  warm  adherents, 
for  electioneering  purposes,  have  employed  a  corre 
sponding  language. 

I  MUST,  sir,  take  it  for  granted,  that  you  cannot 
have  made  such  assertions  or  insinuations  without 
being  willing  to  avow  them ;  and  to  assign  the  rea 
sons  to  a  party  who  may  conceive  himself  injured 
by  them.  I,  therefore,  trust  that  you  will  not  deem 
it  improper  that  I  apply  directly  to  yourself,  to  as 
certain  from  you,  in  reference  to  your  own  declara- 


148  THE    DCEL. 

tions,  whether  the  information  I  have  received  has 
been  correct  or  not ;  and,  if  correct,  what  are  the 
grounds  upon  which  you  have  founded  the  sug 
gestion." 

\There  is,  therefore,  no  semblance  of  truth  in  the 
charge  that  Burr  forced  Hamilton  to  accept  his  chal 
lenge  by  the  unusual  and  unwarranted  form  of  the 
demand  made  upon  him^  He  had  strictly  followed 
the  precedent  set  by  Hamilton  himself  on  a  similar 
occasion ;  [the  fault  was  Hamilton's  alone  that  he 
could  not  truthfully  make  the  disavowal  demanded. 
It  was  true  that  he  had  for  years  been  traducing 
Burr's  character  in  every  form  his  ingenuity  could 
invent,  and  many  scores  of  his  letters  existed  to  at 
test  the  fact.  It  was,  indeed,  out  of  his  power  to 
make  the  disavowarreqmred,  and  his  only  refuge 
was  to  deny  the  right  to  be  questioned.  "And  in 
this  opinion,'*  he  says,  "I  was  confirmed  by  that  of 
a  very  moderate  and  judicious  friend  whom  I  con 
sulted."  This  judicious  friend  was  Kufus  King,  and 
the  statement  was  generally  construed  to  mean  that 
King  advised  Hamilton  to  accept  the  duel  rather 
than  permit  himself  to  be  thus  questioned.  It  was 
afterward  brought  as  a  charge  against  King  that  he 
could  have  prevented  the  duel  had  he  exerted  his  in 
fluence  in  dissuading  Hamilton  from  accepting. 

It  was  years  before  this  charge  was  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  Mr.  King,  and  when  it  was  he 
gave  it  emphatic  denial.  A  letter  to  his  son,  dated 


THE    DUEL.  149 

April  2, 1819,  printed  in  his  works,  Vol.  4,  page  394, 
reads  MS  follows : 

"  To  my  surprise  and  regret,  I  have  been  in 
formed  that  Doctor  Mason,  in  a  late  conversation  at 
a  dinner  table,  stated  in  reference  to  the  duel  be 
tween  General  Hamilton  and  Colonel  Burr,  in  which 
the  former  was  mortally  wounded,  that  it  was  in  my 
power  to  have  prevented  the  duel,  and  that  evidence 
of  this  fact  could  be  produced ;  a  statement  with  the 
effect  that  I  approved  of  and  promoted  the  duel. 

"I  request  that  you  will  take  an  early  oppor 
tunity  of  calling  on  Doctor  Mason  and  in  my  behalf 
assuring  him  that  the  reverse  of  the  alleged  fact  is 
the  truth,  and  that  so  far  from  approving  and  pro 
moting  the  duel.  I  disapproved  of  it  and  endeavored 
to  prevail  on  General  Hamilton  not  to  meet  Colonel 
Burr.  Ask  Doctor  Mason  to  furnish  you  with  the 
evidence  to  which  he  referred  and  upon  which  he 
thought  himself  justified  in  making  the  foregoing 
statement.  Say  to  him,  moreover,. on  my  part,  that 
I  willingly  believe,  after  receiving  this  statement, 
that  he  will  take  greater  pleasure  in  correcting,  than 
he  could  have  experienced  in  stating  a  charge  that 
is  wholly  unfounded." 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Hamilton  did  not 
consent  to  the  meeting  with  Burr  upon  the  advice 
of  this  friend,  or,  so  far  as  is  known,  upon  the  advice 
of  any  friend.  It  is  more  probable  that  he  preferred 
the  duel  as  the  readiest  way  of  relieving  himself 


150  THE    DUEL. 

from  the  embarrassing  situation  in  which  he  was 
placed.  That  he  was  opposed  to  dueling,  we  think, 
cannot  be  sustained  by  the  facts.  Another  letter  on 
the  death  of  Hamilton,  written  by  Eufus  King,  and 
found  in  his  printed  works,  volume  4,  page  397, 
strongly  implies  that,  in  Mr.  King's  opinion,  Hamil 
ton  was  not  opposed  to  dueling.  The  letter  is  as 
follows:  "You  cannot,  my  dear  sir,  hold  in  greater 
abhorrence  than  I  do  the  practice  of  dueling.  Our 
lamented  friend  was  not  unacquainted  with  my  opin 
ion  on  the  subject,  but  with  a  mind  the  most  capa 
cious  and  discriminating  that  I  ever  knew,  he  had 
laid  down  for  the  government  of  himself  certain 
rules  upon  the  subject  of  duels  the  fallacy  of  which 
would  not  fail  to  be  seen  by  any  man  of  ordinary 
understanding.  With  these  guides,  it  is  my  deliber 
ate  opinion  that  he  could  not  have  avoided  a  meet 
ing  with  Colonel  Burr,  had  he  even  declined  the  first 
challenge.'' 

And  the  eagerness  with  which  he  sometimes  en 
gaged  in  dueling  disproves  the  claim  that  Hamilton 
was  opposed  to  the  practice.  When  a  mere  youth 
on  the  staff  of  General  Washington,  he  began  the 
practice,  not  on  his  own  behalf,  but  as  a  volunteer 
protector  of  the  honor  of  his  chief.  Washington 
had  been  abused  by  General  Charles  Lee.  He  gave 
the  matter  no  concern.  But  because  of  this,  Lau- 
rens  and  Hamilton,  Washington's  secretaries,  re 
solved  to  call  General  Lee  to  the  field  of  honor. 


THE    DUEL.  151 

Each  desired  to  be  the  principal,  but  finally  it  was 
settled  that  Laurens  should  send  the  challenge  and 
Hamilton,  as  second,  should  deliver  it.  He  did  so, 
Lee  accepted,  the  duel  was  fought,  and  Lee  was 
severely  wounded.  Again,  about  the  time  Ham 
ilton  retired  from  the  cabinet,  he  got  into  a  political 
wrangle  with  Commodore  Nicholson,  of  the  navy. 
The  Commodore  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  New 
York,  the  father-in-law  of  Albert  Gallatin,  and  an 
enthusiastic  ^Republican.  He  denounced  Hamilton's 
political  principles,  and  called  him:  for  asserting 
them,  uan  abettor  of  the  Tories.1'  \For  this  Hamil 
ton  challenged  the  old  Commodore W-mortal  com 
bat.  Nicholson  accepted  and  all  the  arrangements 
were  made  for  the  meeting,  when  friends  learning 
the  facts  interposed  and  prevented  the  fight.J  A 
man  who  could  seek  the  life  of  another  for  so  trinmg 
a  cause  can  scarcely  be  called  an  oj3pj)ja£nJui£^iuel-  jK 
in<£.^  Another  historical  and  somewhat  romantic 
event,  brought  about  a  misunderstanding  between 
Hamilton  and  James  Monroe  in  179YTwirrcfa~ted  to  a 
challenge  from  the  former  to  the  latter.  Monroe 
sent  for  Burr  to  act  as  his  second.  'CBurr  appeared, 
but  declined  the  position  tendered  him  ;  he  volun 
teered,  however,  to  act  as  peace-maker,  and  after 
much  difficulty  reconciled  the  parties  and  prevented 
the  duel.  In  this  case  Burr  appears  to  much  greater 
advantage  than  Hamilton. 


152  THE    DUEL. 

In  the  enlightenment  of  the  present  day  no  ex 
cuse  can  be  given  for  men  meeting  in  mortal  com 
bat.  To  accept  a  challenge  is  as  sinful  as  to  give  it. 
But  such  was  not  the  sentiment  prevailing  a  century 
ago.  It  is_scaFee4y ~j«st _to_condemn  men  of  that 
time  b^tne  standard^obaecggd^at  this  time.  We  are 
barely  yet  beyond  the  influence  of  the  public  senti 
ment  which  required,  aye  commanded  public  men, 
at  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  manhood  stood  for,  to  de 
fend  an  assault  upon  their  integrity  by  private  com 
bat.  We  should  rejoice  that  we  are  emancipated 
from  such  barbarism.  The  barbarism  that  induced 
General  Jackson  to  murder  Dickinson;  that  caused 
Colonel  Bento*  t/  y  Lucas,  and  that  sent  Clay  and 
Bandolph  if  i«  jld  with  murder  in  their  hearts. 
But  judged  l^  tho  jde  of  that  day  not  one  of  these 
had  received  a  tithe  of  the  provocation  Burr  re 
ceived  from  Hamilton. 

Take  the  summing  up  as  Parton  gives  \i:\  "At 
every  step  of  Burr's  political  career,  without 
^^xception,  Hamilton,  by  open  efforts,  by  a  secret  in 
trigue,  or  by  both,  had  utterly  opposed  or  forbidden 
his  advancement.  He  had  injured  him  in  the  esti 
mation  of  Washington.  He  had  prevented  Mr. 
Adams  from  giving  him  a  military  appointment. 
His  letters  for  years  had  abounded  in  denunciations 
of  him,  as  severe  and  unqualified  as  the  language  of 
a  powerful  declaimer  could  convey.  From  Burr's 
own  table,  he  had  carried  away  the  unguarded  sallies 


THE    DUEL.  153 

of  the  host  for  use  against  his  political  opponent. 
The  most  offensive  epithets  and  phrases  he  had  so 
habitually  applied  to  Burr,  that  they  had  become 
familiar  in  the  mouths  of  leading  Federalists.  And 
finally  he  had  just  succeeded  in  frustrating  Burr's 
keen  desire  for  vindication  at  the  people's  hands." 
But  Parton  gives  but  a  portion  of  the  wrongs  en 
dured  by  Buri\J  He  has  omitted  those  which  touch 
most  keenly  the  sensibilities  of  a  frank  and  trusting 
nature.  \JDuplicity  practiced  ;  confidence  betrayed  ; 
friendship  violated:  and  the  stinging  sensejof  humil 
iation  caused  by  all  these  wrongs  combined.  \ 

It  is  fitting  to  close  this  chapter  with  a  brief  sum 
mary  of  the  character  of  Hami/-;**1,  i  the  words  of 
a  close  personal  and  political  fri§;i<4s  f  j  ^  en  Gouver- 
neur  Morris  heard  of  the  duel  a-^'^its  ^sult,  he  has 
tened  to  the  bedside  of  Hamilton  and  remained  with 
him  until  he  died.  He  was  invited  by  the  family 
and  friends  to  deliver  an  oration  at  the  funeral.  He 
accepted  the  invitation.  On  the  day  intervening  be 
tween  the  death  and  the  burial,  he  retired  to  his  study 
to  consider  what  he  should  say  of  his  departed  friend. 
While  thus  communing  with  himself,  he  wrote  in  his 
diary  these  words:  ''Discuss  the  points  which  itT 
may  be  safe  to  touch  upon  to-morrow,  and  those 
which  it  may  be  proper  to  avoid.  To  a  man  who 
could  feebly  command  all  his  powers  this  subject  is 
difficult.  The  first  point  in  his  biography  is  that  he  f' 
was  a  stranger,  of  illegitimate  birth  ;  some  mode 
must  be  contrived  to  pass  over  this  handsomely. 


154  THE    DUEL. 

He  was  indiscreet,  vain  and  opinionated ;  these  things 
must  be  told  or  the  character  will  be  incomplete, 
yet  they  must  be  told  in  such  manner  as  not  to  de 
stroy  the  interest.  He  was  in  principle  opposed  to 
republican  and  attached  to  monarchical  government, 
and  then  his  opinions  were  generally  known  and 
have  been  long  and  loudly  proclaimed.  His  share  in 
framing  our  constitution  must  be  mentioned,  and 
his  unfavorable  opinion  cannot  therefore  be  con 
cealed.  The  most  important  part  of  his  life  was  his 
administration  of  the  finances.  The  system  he  pro 
posed  was  in  one  respect  radically  wrong;  more 
over  it  has  been  the  subject  of  some  just  and  much 
unjust  criticism.  Many  are  still  hostile  to  it,  though 
on  improper  ground.  I  can  neither  commit  myself 
to  a  full  and  pointed  approbation,  nor  is  it  prudent 
to  censure  others.  All  this  must,  somehow  or  other, 
be  reconciled.  He  was  in  principle  opposed  to  duel 
ing,  but  he  has  fallen  in  a  duel.  I  cannot  thoroughly 
excuse  him  without  criminating  Colonel  Burr,  which 
would  be  wrong,  and  might  lead  to  events  which 
every  good  citizen  must  deprecate.  Indeed,  this 
morning  when  I  sent  for  Colonel  Smith,  who  had 
asked  an  oration  from  me  last  night,  to  tell  him 
I  would  endeavor  to  say  some  few  words  over  the 
corpse,  I  told  him  in  answer  to  the  hope  he  ex 
pressed,  that  in  doing  justice  to  the  dead,  I  would 
not  injure  the  living  —  that  Colonel  Burr  ought  to 
be  considered  in  the  same  light  with  any  other  man 
who  had  killed  another  in  a  duel." 


CHAPTER  VII. 


BURR  RETIRES  FROM  PUBLIC  LIFE. 


Kind  Words  to  Family  and  Friends  —  Mementos  for  All  — Returns  to 
the  Senate  —  Presides  at  the  Chace  Impeachment  Trial  —  Bids  Fare 
well  to  the  Senate  — His  Address  to  the  Senators  — Its  Thrilling 
Effect  — Tears  from  the  Members— His  Visit  to  the  Western  Coun 
try—  His  Enthusiastic  Welcome  — The  First  Blow  from  the  Man  iu 
Power. 


Burr,  on  the  evening  before  the  meeting,  pre 
pared  his  will  and  wrote  loving  letters  to  his  daugh 
ter  and  her  husband,  Governor  Alston,  of  South 
Carolina.  He  says  to  the  latter:  "It  would  have 
been  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  had  your  as 
surance  that  you  would  assume  my  debts  and  take 
and  dispose  of  the  property  at  discretion.  It  may 
be  done  in  a  way  which  you  would  find  a  conven 
ience.  My  creditors  would  take  your  assumption 
at  such  time  as  you  might  judge  convenient.  The 
property  will,  undoubtedly,  produce  more  than  the 
amount  of  my  debts.  What  you  may  not  incline  to 
keep  may  be  forthwith  turned  into  cash."  Nor  does 
he  forget  those  who  have  been  his  friends  ;  he  names 
a  number,  of  whom  he  says :  "  All  lawyers  and 
young  men  of  talents  have  manifested  great  and  dis- 

(155) 


156  BURR   RETIRES   FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE. 

interested  /eal  in  my  favor  on  some  recent  occasions. 
I  pray  you  to  take  notice  of  them,  and  give  to  each 
of  them,  and  to  William  T.  Broome,  now  in  Paris, 
some  small  token  of  remembrance  of  me."  Other 
friends  are  also  named  and  commended. 

He  refers  to  the  approaching  duel  and  says,  if  he 
should  fall,  "yet  I  shall  live  in  you  and  your  son. 
I  commit  to  you  all  that  is  most  dear  to  me  —  my 
reputation  and  my  daughter.  Your  talents  and  your 
attachment  will  be  the  guardian  of  the  one — your 
kindness  and  your  generosity  of  the  other.  Let  me 
entreat  you  to  stimulate  and  aid  Theodosia  in  the 
cultivation  of  her  mind.  It  is  indispensable  to  her 
happiness  and  essential  to  yours.  It  is  also  of  the  ut 
most  importance  to  your  son.  She  would  presently 
acquire  a  critical  knowledge  of  Latin,  English,  and 
all  branches  of  natural  philosophy.  All  this  would 
be  poured  into  your  son.  If  you  should  differ  with 
me  as  to  the  importance  of  this  measure,  suffer  me 
to  ask  it  of  you  as  a  last  favor.  She  will  richly  com 
pensate  your  trouble." 

To  his  daughter  he  writes  most  tenderly,  giving 
directions  about  the  disposal  of  his  property  and 
the  distribution  of  mementos  among  relatives  and 
friends.  "  Give  Natalie,"  his  adopted  daughter,  then 
well  married,  "one  of  the  pictures  of  me.  There 
are  three  in  the  house;  that  of  Stewart  and  two  by 
Vanderlyn.  Give  her  any  other  little  tokens  she 
may  desire.  One  of  those  pictures,  also,  I  pray 


BURR    RETIRES   FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE.  157 

you  to  give  to  Dr.  Eustis.  To  Bartow  something." 
Nor  does  he,  in  this  possible  last  night  of  his  life, 
forget  his  family  servants.  u  I  pray  you  and  your 
husband  to  convey  to  Peggy  the  small  lot,  not  num 
bered,  which  is  the  fourth  article  mentioned  in  my 
list  of  property.  It  is  worth  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  Give  her  also  fifty  dollars  in  cash  as  a 
reward  for  her  fidelity.  Dispose  of  Nancy  as  you 
please ;  she  is  honest,  robust  and  good  tempered. 
Peter  is  the  most  intelligent  and  best  disposed  black 
I  have  ever  known.  I  advise  you,  by  all  means,  to 
keep  him  as  the  valet  of  your  son.  Persuade  Peggy 
to  live  with  you,  if  you  can." 

He  made  special  bequests  to  his  step-sons,  between 
whom  and  himself  the  most  affectionate  relations  had 
always  existed.  In  his  daughter's  letter  he  says : 
"  It  just  now  occurs  to  me  to  give  poor  dear  Frederic 
my  watch.  I  have  already  directed  my  executors 
here  to  give  him  my  wearing  apparel.  •  When  you 
come  hither  you  must  send  for  Frederic,  and  open 
your  whole  heart  to  him.  He  loves  me  almost  as 
much  as  Theodosia  does ;  and  he  does  love  you  to 
adoration."  He  closes  his  letter  to  his  daughter  as 
follows:  "I  am  indebted  to  you,  my  dearest  Theo 
dosia,  for  a  very  great  portion  of  the  happiness  which 
I  have  enjoyed  in  this  life.  You  have  completely 
satisfied  all  that  my  heart  and  affections  had  hoped, 
or  even  wished.  With  a  little  more  perseverance, 
determination,  and  industry  you  will  obtain  all  that 


158  BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC    LIFE. 

my  ambition  or  vanity  had  fondly  imagined.  Let 
your  son  have  occasion  to  be  proud  that  he  had  a 
mother." 

S.  Calmly  and  with  almost  his  usual  pleasantry  he 
thus  writes,  possibly  for  the  last  time,  to  those  who 
are  nearest  and  dearest  to  him.  He  makes  no  apol 
ogies,  he  gives  no  explanations,  he  utters  no  com 
plaints,  and  above  all  he  does  not  seek  to  escape 
censure  for  himself  by  blaming  any  other.  He  is 
conscious  of  no  wrong  and  bravely  assumes  the 
full  responsibility  of  his  act.  To  defend  his  honor 
with  his  life  seems  no  sacrifice  to  him.  It  was  the 
ethics  of  his  time  and  he  obeyed  through  a  sense  of 
duty,  as  well  as  a  consciousness  of  right.  We  can 
not  justly  judge  him  by  the  moral  standard  of  our 


The  charge  that  Burr  forced  Hamilton  to  fight 
him  was  made  at  the  time  and  is  still  believed.  It  is 
strange  that  the  friends  of  Hamilton  do  not  see  that 
if  the  statement  be  true,  it  reflects  more  seriously 
against  Hamilton  than  it  does  against  Burr.  ^y~ 
what  means  could  Burr  have  forced  Hamilton  to 
fight  him?  This  question  has  never  been  answered, 
tioi-  docs  it  seem  ever  to  have  occurred  to  Hamilton's 
friends  that  he  should  be  held  responsible  for  his 
assaults  upon  the  reputation  of  other  men.  He  did 
not  deny  that  he  had  spoken  disparaging  words  of 
Burr,  nor  would  he  affirm  that  he  had.  He  simply 
placed  himself  upon  his  dignity  and  denied  Burr's 


BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC    LIFE.  159 

right  to  question  him.  It  is  nearer  the  truth  that 
Hamilton  forced  Burr  to  challenge  him.  Burr  called 
Hamilton's  attention  to  a  statement  in  a  public  news 
paper  in  which  Hamilton  is  reported  as  having,  in  j, 
conversation  about  Burr,  used  words  degrading  t«> 
Burr's  character.  When  asked  to  avow  or  disavow 
this  statement^  Hamilton  would  do  neither.  The 
manly,  courageous  course  would  have  been,  if  he  had 
made  the  charge,  to  have  acknowledged  it ;  if  he  had 
not,  to  have  denied  it.  But  he  did  not  take  this 
course.  He  quibbled  over  the  meaning  of  a  word, 
and  denied  responsibility.  Burr  even  modified  hin 
demand  at  one  time  to  the  extent  that  Judge  Pendle- 
ton,  Hamilton's  second,  said  he  thought  it  would  be 
satisfactory  to  Hamilton.  But  Hamilton  was  not 
satisfied;  he  would  do  nothing  but  deny  Burr's  right 
to  question  him. 

What  more  could  Burr  do;  sit  down  and  submit 
to  the4nsult  ?  That  was  not  the  spirit  of  that  day. 
Had  he  done  so  he  would  have  been  denounced  as  a 
craven  and  a  coward.  It  was  thus  that  Burr  was 
forced  to  challenge  Hamilton.  We  do  not  believe 
Hamilton  wished  to  fight,  but  he  had  placed  himself 
in  a  position  which  compelled  him  to  fight  or  be  dis 
graced.  He  had  for  years  been  in  secret  (confiden 
tial)  correspondence,  traducing  Burr;  hundreds  of 
letters  filled  with  calumny  against  Burr  were  in  the 
hands  of  his  friends,  throughout  the  country.  He, 
therefore,  dare  not  deny  his  habit  of  vilifying  Burr ; 


IbO  BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC    LIFE. 

he  was  compelled  to  choose  between  the  loss  of  the 
respect  of  his  friends  and  a  refusal  of  all  explanation 
with  Burr.  He  could  do  nothing  else.  It  was  be 
cause  of  the  position  in  which  his  own  action  placed 
him  that  he  was  forced  to  fight  Burr. 

This  view  was  taken  of  it  by  some  of  Hamilton's 
closest  and  most  intimate  personal  and  political 
friends.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  who  delivered  the  funeral  oration  at 
Hamilton's  burial.  He  was  urged  to  censure  Burr 
for  forcing  the  fight  with  Hamilton,  but  Morris  em 
phatically  refused  to  do  so,  saying  that  while  doing 
justice  to  the  dead  he  would  not  injure  the  living, 
and  that  Burr  should  be  judged  as  any  other  man  is 
judged  who  has  killed  another  in  a  duej^  It. .WAS  not 
the  sentiment  of  the  better  class  of  people  that  con 
demned  Burr,  but  the  party  passion  that  was  aroused 
by  the  event. 

Burr  returned  to  his  duties  as  vice-president  at 
the  opening  of  congress  in  December ;  it  was  the  last 
session  of  that  hody  during  his  official  term  of  office. 
He  was  received  by  the  members  of  the  senate  with 
their  usual  cordiality  and  good  feeling.  Even  Jef 
ferson  continued  all  the  proprieties  of  their  official 
relations,  and  invited  him  to  dinner  as  regularly  as 
before.  It  was  during  this  session  the  famous  im 
peachment  trial  of  Judge  Samuel  Chace,  charged 
with  high  cj^mes  and  misdemeanors,  was  held  before 
the  senate.  \Burr,  as  vice-president,  presided  at  the 
\* — 


BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC   LIFE.  161 

hearing  of  the  case  with  his  accustomed  dignity  and 
with  an  impartiality  and  fairness  which  won  him 
universal  applause.  /  The  senate  chamber  was  pre 
pared  for  this  oeeaision  under  the  vice-president's 
immediate  direction,  and  not  only  presented  a  hand 
some  appearance,  but  in  its  arrangements  giving 
every  convenience  to  the  senators  forming  the  high 
court  of  judicature,  the  committee  of  the  house  pros 
ecuting  the  case  and  the  attorneys  defending  it. 
Special  provision  was  made  for  members  of  the  ex 
ecutive  department,  foreign  ministers  and  other  high 
officials.  A  gallery  was  provided  for  the  accommo 
dation  of  the  ladies,  who  attended  the  trial  in  large 
numbers. 

This  trial  commenced  on  the  3rd  day  of  January 
and  continued  to  the  1st  of  March,  1805.  The  report 
of  the  trial  given  by  Colonel  Benton,  in  his  abridg 
ment  of  the  debates  of  congress,  fills  112  pages  of 
that  work,  and  yet  Colonel  Benton  apologized  for 
the  meagreness  of  his  report.  He  says  in  a  note: 
';  This  trial  was  one  of  the  events  of  the  day,  greatly 
exciting  party  passions,  and  taking  a  scope  which 
gives  it  historic  interest,  both  for  the  persons  con 
cerned  and  the  matters  involved.  The  account  of  it 
is  greatly  abridged  here,  but  it  is  believed  all  is  still 
retained  which  is  necessary  to  the  full  knowledge  of 
the  case,  and  a  just  conception  of  the  skill,  learning, 
eloquence  and  ability  with  which  the  trial  (both  the 
prosecution  and  the  defense)  was  conducted.'' 


162  BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC    LIFE. 


Jefferson  was  extremely  anxious  to  secure  J  udge 
Chare's  conviction,  and  made  some  overtures  to  Bun-. 
who  presided  at  the  trial,  which  were  regarded  as 
attempts  to  bribe  him  to  exercise  an  improper  in 
fluence  against  Chace.  It  is  certain  he  did  what  he 
had  never  done  before,  he  appointed  some  of  Burr's 
friends  to  office,  his  brother-in-law  and  his  step 
son  being  among  the  number.  Burr  fully  under 
stood  the  motive  which  induced  these  favors,  but 
never  in  any  manner  acknowledged  them.  The  day 
following  the  conclusion  of  the  Chace  trial,  Burr  re 
signed  his  office  and  retired  from  the  vice-presidency.  | 

On  retiring  from  the  senate  he  made  a  farewell 
speech  to  the  senators,  of  which  Colonel  Benton  said : 
"  A  more  beautiful  or  a  more  patriotic  address  was 
never  delivered."  The  address,  as  reported  for  and 
published  in  the  Washington  Federalist,  March  13, 
1805,  is  as  follows  : 

"  On  Saturday,  the  2nd  day  of  March,  1805,  Mr. 
Burr  took  leave  of  the  senate.  This  was  done  at  a 
time  when  the  doors  were  closed,  the  senate  being 
engaged  in  executive  business,  and,  of  course,  there 
were  no  spectators.  It  is,  however,  said  to  be  the 
most  dignified,  sublime  and  impressive  address  that 
ever  was  uttered  ;  and  the  effect  which  it  produced 
justifies  these  epithets.  I  will  give  you  the  best  ac 
count  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  from  the  relation 
of  several  senators,  as  well  Federal  as  Eepublican. 

"  Mr.  Burr  began  by  saying  that  he  had  intended 


BURR   RETIRES  FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE.  163 

to  pass  the  day  with  them,  but  the  increase  of  a  slight 
indisposition  (sore  throat)  had  determined  him  then 
to  take  leave  of  them.  He  touched  lightly  on  some 
of  the  rules  and  orders  of  the  house,  and  recom 
mended,  in  one  or  two  points,  alterations,  of  which 
he  briefly  explained  the  reasons  and  principles. 

"He  said  he  was  sensible  he  must  at  times  have 

• 

wounded  the  feelings  of  individual  members.  He 
had  ever  avoided  entering  into  explanations  at  the 
time,  because  a  moment  of  irritation  was  not  a  mo 
ment  for  explanation  ;  because  his  position  (being  in 
the  chair)  rendered  it  impossible  to  enter  into  ex 
planations  without  obvious  danger  of  consequences 
which  might  hazard  the  dignity  of  the  senate,  or 
prove  disagreeable  and  injurious  in  more  than  one 
point  of  view ;  that  he  had,  therefore,  preferred  to 
leave  to  their  reflections  his  justification  ;  that,  on  his 
part,  he  had  no  injuries  to  complain  of ;  if  any  had 
been  done  or  attempted,  he  was  ignorant  of  the  au 
thors,  and  if  he  had  ever  known  he  had  forgotten, 
for,  he  thanked  God,  he  had  no  memory  for  injuries. 
"  He  doubted  not  but  that  they  had  found  occa 
sion  to  observe,  that  to  be  prompt  was  not  therefore 
to  be  precipitate,  and  that  to  act  without  delay  was 
not  always  to  act  without  reflection  :  that  error  was 
often  to  be  preferred  to  indecision ;  that  his  errors, 
whatever  they  might  have  been,  were  those  of  rule 
and  principle,  and  not  of  caprice.  That  it  could  not 
be  deemed  arrogance  in  him  to  say  that,  in  his  offi- 


164  BURR  RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC   LIFE. 

cial  conduct,  he  had  known  no  party  —  no  cause  — 
no  friend ;  that  if  in  the  opinion  of  any,  the  disci 
pline  which  has  been  established  approached  to  rigor, 
they  would,  at  least,  admit  that  it  was  uniform  and 
indiscriminate. 

"He  further  remarked,  that  the  ignorant  and  un 
thinking  affect  to  treat  as  unnecessary  and  fastidious 
a  rigid  attention  to  rules  and  decorum,  but  he  thought 
nothing  trivial  which  touched,  however  remotely, 
the  dignity  of  that  body,  and  he  appealed  to  their 
experience  for  the  justice  of  this  sentiment,  and 
urged  them  in  language  the  most  impressive,  and  in 
a  manner  the  most  commanding,  to  avoid  the  small 
est  relaxation  of  the  habits  which  he  had  endeavored 
to  inculcate  and  establish. 

"  But  he  challenged  their  attention  to  considera 
tions  more  momentous  than  any  which  regarded 
merely  their  personal  honor  and  character  —  the 
preservation  of  law,  of  liberty,  and  the  constitu 
tion.  This  house,  said  he,  is  a  sanctuary,  a  citadel 
of  law,  of  order  and  of  liberty,  and  it  is  here  —  it  is 
here,  in  this  exalted  refuge  —  here,  if  any  where,  will 
resistance  be  made  to  the  storms  of  political  frenzy 
and  the  silent  arts  of  corruption;  and  if  the  consti 
tution  be  destined  ever  to  perish  by  the  sacrilegious 
hands  of  the  demagogue  or  the  usurper,  which  God 
avert,  its  expiring  agonies  will  be  witnessed  on  this 
floor. 

"He  then  adverted  to  those  affecting  sentiments 


BURR   RETIRES   FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE.  165 

which  attend  a  final  separation  —  dissolution,  per 
haps  forever,  of  those  associations  which  he  hoped 
had  been  mutually  satisfactory.  He  consoled  him 
self,  however,  and  them,  with  the  reflection  that, 
though  they  separated,  they  would  be  engaged  in  the 
common  cause  of  disseminating  principles  of  free 
dom  and  social  order.  He  should  always  regard  the 
proceedings  of  that  body  with  interest  and  with 
solicitude.  He  should  feel  for  their  honor  and  the  na 
tional  honor,  so  intimately  connected  with  it,  and 
took  his  leave  with  expressions  of  personal  respect, 
and  with  prayers  and  wishes. 

"In  this  cold  relation  a  distant  reader,  especially 
one  to  whom  Colonel  Burr  is  not  personally  known, 
will  be  at  a  loss  to  discover  the  cause  of  those  extra 
ordinary  emotions  which  were  excited.  The  whole 
senate  were  in  tears,  and  so  unmanned  that  it  was 
half  an  hour  before  they  could  recover  themselves 
sufficiently  to  come  to  order  and  choose  a  vice-presi 
dent  pro  tern." 

The  same  paper  adds:  "The  characteristics  of 
the  vice-president's  manner  seemed  to  havte  been 
elevated  and  dignified  —  a  consciousness  of  superi 
ority.  Nothing  of  that  whining  adulation;  those 
canting,  hypocritical  complaints  of  want  of  talents, 
assurance  of  his,  endeavors  to  please  them,  hopes  of 
their  favor,  <fcc\  On  the  contrary,  he  told  them  ex 
plicitly  that  be  had  determined  to  pursue  a  conduct 
which  his  judgment  should  approve,  and  which  would 


166  BURR    RETIRES   FROM   PUBLIC   LIFE. 

secure  the  suffrage  of  his  own  conscience,  and  that 
he  had  never  considered  who  else  might  he  pleased 
or  displeased ;  although  it  was  but  justice  on  this 
occasion  to  thank  them  for  their  deference  and  re 
spect  to  his  official  conduct — the  constant  and  uni 
form  support  he  had  received  from  every  member  — 
for  their  prompt  acquiescence  in  his  decisions ;  and  to 
remark,  to  their  honor,  that  they  had  never  de 
scended  to  a  single  motion  of  passion  or  embarrass 
ment.  And  so  far  was  he  from  apologizing  for  his 
defects,  that  he  told  them,  on  reviewing  the  decisions 
he  had  had  occasion  to  make,  there  was  no  one  which 
on  reflection,  he  was  disposed  to  vary  or  retract. '^j 
One  senator  afterward  said  that  he  "  wished  the 
tradition  might  be  preserved,  as  one  of  the  most  ex 
traordinary  events  he  had  ever  witnessed."  An 
other  senator,  when  asked  how  long  he  was  speak 
ing,  said  he  could  form  no  idea;  it  might  have  been 
an  hour  or  it  might  have  been  a  moment.  When 
he  came  to  his  senses  he  seemed  to  have  awakened 
from  a  trance.  A  resolution  of  thanks  was  unani 
mously  passed  by  the  senators,  "in  testimony  of  the 
impartiality  and  ability  with  which  he  had  presided 
over  the  deliberations,  and  of  their  entire  approba 
tion  of  his  conduct  in  the  discharge  of  the  arduous 
and  important  duties  assigned  him  as  president  of 
the  senate."  No  man  ever  retired  from  public  life 
with  a  cleaner  or  more  honorable  record  than  did 
Aaron  Burr. 


BUKK    RETIRES   FROM   PUBBIC   LIFE.  167 

In  writing  to  his  daughter,  and  enclosing  a  copy 
of  the  paper  containing  the  foregoing  report  of  his 
farewell  speech  to  the  senate,  (the  only  report,  it  is 
believed,  ever  made  of  this  or  any  speech  of  his,) 
Burr  said:  "The  enclosed  newspaper  is  just  now 
put  into  my  hands.  It  is  true,  as  is  there  said,  that 
I  made  a  talk,  as  was  decent  and  proper,  to  the  sen 
ate  on  leaving  them  formally.  There  was  nothing 
written  or  prepared,  except  that  it  had  been  some 
days  on  my  mind  to  say  something.  It  was  the 
solemnity,  the  anxiety,  the  expectation,  and  the 
interest  which  I  saw  strongly  painted  in  the  counte 
nances  of  the  auditors,  that  inspired  whatever  was 
said.  I  neither  shed  tears  nor  assumed  tenderness, 
but  tears  did  flow  abundantly.  The  story  in  this 
newspaper  is  rather  awkwardly  and  pompously  told. 
It  has  been  gathered  up,  I  presume,  from  different 
relations  of  the  facts.  This  newspaper  (The  Wash 
ington  Federalist)  has  been  for  months  past,  and,  for 
aught  I  know  (for  I  read  none  of  them),  still  is,  one 
of  the  most  abusive  against  A.  Burr.  I  am  told  that 
several  papers  lately  made  some  qualified  compli 
ments;  thus,  for  instance,  referring  to  Judge  Chace's 
trial :  c  He  conducted  with  the  dignity  and  impar 
tiality  of  an  angel,  but  with  the  rigor  of  a  devil.'  ' 

At  this  time  he  made  the  first  and  only  complaint 
he  ever  uttered  against  his  persecutors.  In  a  letter 
to  his  son-in-law,  Joseph  Alston,  March  22,  1805.  he 
says:  "Though  in  my  former  letters  I  did  not,  in 


168  BURR   RETIRES  FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE. 

express  terms,  inform  you  that  I  was  under  ostracism, 
yet  it  must  have  been  inferred.  Such  is  the  fact. 
In  New  York  I  am  to  be  disfranchised,  and  in  New 
Jersey  hanged.  Having  substantial  objections  to 
both,  I  shall  not,  for  the  present,  hazard  either,  but 
shall  seek  another  country.  You  will  not,  from  this, 
conclude  that  I  have  become  passive,  or  disposed  to 
submit  tamely  to  the  machinations  of  a  banditti.  If 
you  should  you  would  greatly  err.  —  and 

his  clan  affect  to  deplore,  but  secretly  rejoice  at  and 
stimulate  the  villanies  of  all  sorts,  which  are  practised 
against  me.  Their  alarm  and  anxiety,  however,  are 
palpable  to  a  degree  perfectly  ridiculous.  Their  awk 
ward  attempts  to  propitiate  reminds  one  of  the  In 
dian  worship  of  the  evil  spirit." 

It  was,  therefore,  from  the  necessityof^xsliring 
lor  a  time  from  his  home  in  New  York  that  Burr 
made  his  journey  to  the  western  states  in  1805. 
Burr's  enemies  have  always  attached  a  great  mystery 
to  his  movements  that  y ear. ^T hey  have  imagined 
that  he  was  sounding  the  people  with  a  view  of  dis 
rupting  the  Union  and  the  establishing  a  great 
empire,  to  be  composed  of  the  states  west  of  the 
Allegheny  mountains  and  a  large  portion  of  Mexico, 
with  the  capital  at  New  Orleans.  It  wasjhe  misfor- 
tune  of  Burr .. that  his  enemies  always  attributed  to 
him  not  only  unbounded  ambitionybut  also  ability 
and  power,  more  than  mortal  man  ever  possessed,  in 
the  execution  of  his  ambitious  schemes.  It  was 


Bl'RK    RETIRES    FROM   PUBLIC    LIFE.  169 

because  of  their  belief  in  these  extraordinary  charac 
teristics  of  the  man  that  caused  them  to  fear  him. 

The   tTTt**J^flg  tb*f   W*"]^  thnaa  ..nArr^gg  ^y^  jr^xmct, 

ing  him  with  such  great  powers  and  such  .wild 
designs,  he  was  a  broken  and  ruined  man,  a  fugitive, 
seeking  shelter  from  his  oppressors,  in  a  new  home 
and  among  a  strange  people.  He  had  been  invited 
to  remove  to  Tennessee  and  begin  a  new  political 
life  there,  and  it  was  to  view  the  field  and  ascertain 
the  prospects  of  success  that  induced  him  to  spend 
the  summer  of  1805  in  the  western  states.  If  this 
visit  and  the  warm  welcome  he  everywhere  received 
from  the  people  revived  his  spirits  and  inspired  him 
with  grander  views,  they  were  not  those  of  disloyalty 
to  his  county  or  in  any  way  wanting  in  patriotic 
impulse. 

Burr's  notes  of  this  journey,  and  his  descriptions 
of  the  country  and  the  people,  are  of  much  interest 
at  this  time,  and  to  some  extent  explain  his  change 
of  plans  for  the  future.  In  company  with  Gabriel 
Shaw,  he  left  Pittsburg  on  the  30th  of  April,  in  a 
boat  bought  for  the  purpose.  This  boat  he  describes 
as  a  "floating  house,  sixty  feet  by  fourteen,  contain 
ing  dining-room,  kitchen  with  fire  place,  and  two 
bed-rooms  ;  roofed  from  stem  to  stern,  steps  to  go  up 
and  a  walk  on  the  top  the  whole  length,  glass  win 
dows,  etc.,"  and  cost  him  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  dollars;  it  was  what  was  called  in  those  days 
"  an  ark.''  On  the  3rd  of  May  they  "  went  on  shore 


170  BURR   RETIRES   FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE. 

in  the  skiff',  letting  the  ark  float  on,  to  see  the  town 
of  Wieling,  sometimes  erroneously  spelled  Wheeling,  a 
pretty,  neat  village,  well  situated  on  the  south  bank, 
containing  sixty  or  eighty  houses."  On  the  5th 
reached  Marietta,  "containing  about  eighty  houses, 
some  that  would  be  called  handsome  in  any  village 
on  the  continent."  Here  "  came  in  several  gentle 
men  to  offer  me  civilities  and  hospitalities."  On 
the  llth  of  May  reached  Cincinnati.  "Meeting  here 
with  General  Dayton  and  several  old  army  acquaint 
ances,  remained  the  whole  day."  In  the  evening 
started  for  Louisville  ;  "  there  it  is  proposed  to  take 
horses,  to  ride  through  part  of  Kentucky,  visit  Lex 
ington  and  Frankfort,  and  meet  the  ark  again  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Cumberland." 

At  Nashville,  Burr  says :  "  One  is  astonished  at 
the  number  of  sensible,  well  informed  and  well  be 
haved  people  which  is  found  here.  I  have  been 
received  with  much  hospitality  and  kindness,  and 
could  stay  a  month  with  pleasure ;  but  General  An 
drew  Jackson  having  provided  us  a  boat,  we  shall 
set  off  on  the  2nd  of  June."  Reached  Fort  Massac, 
on  the  Ohio,  the  third  day.  "  Here  found  General 
Wilkinson  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis.  The  general 
and  his  officers  fitted  me  out  with  an  elegant  barge, 
sails,  colors,  and  ten  oars,  with  a  sergeant  and  ten 
able,  faithful  hands.  Thus  equipped  I  left  Massac  on 
the  10th  of  June."  Arrived  at  Natchez  on  the  17th, 
nearly  eight  hundred  miles  from  Massac.  "  Natche/ 


BURR   RETIRES   FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE.  171 

is  a  town  of  three  or  four  hundred  houses ;  the  in 
habitants  are  traders  and  mechanics,  but  surrounded 
by  wealthy  planters,  among  whom  I  have  been  en 
tertained  with  great  hospitality  and  taste.  These 
planters  are,  many  of  them,  men  of  education  and 
refinement,  live  well,  and  have  good  houses.  We  are 
now  going  through  a  settled  country,  and,  during 
the  residue  of  my  voyage  to  Orleans,  about  three 
hundred  miles,  I  shall  take  breakfast  and  dinner 
each  day  at  the  house  of  some  gentleman  on  shore." 
On  the  25th  of  June  he  reached  New  Orleans. 
He  says :  "  This  city  is  larger  than  I  expected,  and 
there  are  found  many  more  than  would  be  supposed 
living  in  handsome  style.  They  are  cheerful,  gay 
and  easy."  He  was  back  at  Nashville  on  the  6th  of 
August.  A  week  later  he  writes:  "I  am  still  at 
Nashville.  For  a  week  I  have  been  lounging  at  the 
house  of  General  Jackson,  once  a  lawyer,  after  a 
judge,  now  a  planter;  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  one 
of  those  prompt,  frank,  ardent  souls  whom  I  love 
to  meet."  "  The  hospitality  of  these  people  will  keep 
me  till  the  12th,  when  I  shall  partake  of  a  public 
dinner,  given  not  to  the  vice-president,  but  to  A.  B." 
After  visiting  Lexington  and  Frankfort  he  says : 
"  My  plans  for  the  next  month  are  now  made  up,  or 
rather  imposed  on  me  by  letters  received  since  I 
wrote  last  and  by  previous  engagements.  On  the 
1st  of  September  I  leave  for  St.  Louis.  My  route  is 
to  Louisville,  55  miles;  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash, 


172  BURR   RETIRES  FROM  PUBLIC   LIFE. 

150  miles;  Kaskaskias,  on  the  Mississippi,  150  miles; 
St.  Louis,  75  miles.  I  propose  to  be  at  Cincinnati 
on  the  1st  of  October,  at  Pittsburg  about  the  20th." 
Thus  ended  this  important  journey. 

From  January,  1806,  to  August  of  that  year 
Burr  spent  at  Washington  and  Philadelphia,  matur 
ing  plans,  of  which  we  will  hereafter  have  much  to 
say.  Jefferson  was  polite  to  him  and  occasionally 
invited  him  to  dinner,  apparently  unconscious  of 
ever  having  wronged  him,  while  the  latter  was  yet 
ignorant  of  the  full  extent  of  the  President's  ingrati 
tude.  In  August.  Burr  started  on  his  second  tour  to 
the  western  states.  At  all  the  towns  on  the  Ohio  and 
its  tributaries  he  was  received  with  even  a  heartier 
welcome  than  was  given  him  the  summer  before. 
Ovations  met  him  at  every  important  point;  ban 
quets  and  balls,  "brilliant  and  chaste,"  were  frequent 
occurrences,  and  his  popularity  with  the  people 
seemed  to  be  without  limit.  Just  at  this  moment, 
when  the  sky  was  the  clearest  and  brightest,  fell  a 
thunderbolt,  terrifying  the  people,  blasting  all  of 
Burr's  hopes,  und  ruining  all  of  his  plans.  Let  us 
pause  for  a  time  to  learn  whence  this  thunderbolt 
came  and  who  it  was  that  hurled  it. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 


The  Message  Arraigning  Burr —  The  Investigation  by  Jackson  —  Bissell's 
Report  —  Message  to  Congress  —  Burr's  Arrest  —  Defended  by  Clay  — 
Acquitted  — Clay's  Letter  — The  Proclamation  —  Burr  Starts  Down 
the  River— Sixty  Unarmed  Men  with  Him  —  Efforts  to  Create 
Clamor  and  Prejudice  Against  Burr  —  Special  Secret  Agent  Sent  to 
Kentucky  and  Ohio. 


In  less  than  two  years  after  Burr  had  retired 
from  public  life,  thejuict  of_ the  country  was  startled 
by  a  proclamatiorl  from  the  president  announcing 
that  a  military  expedition  was  being  prepared  on 
the  western  waters  for  the  purpose  of  invading  the 
Spanish  provinces.^  No  further  particulars  were 
given,  and  the  people,  especially  those  in  the  west 
ern  states,  were  thoroughly  mystified.  They  knew 
nothing  of  such  an  enterprise.  At  the  meeting  of 
congress,  which  followed  soon,  a  resolution  was 
adopted,  calling  on  the  president  for  further  informa 
tion.  To  this  request  the  president  made  reply  in  a 
special  message  of  much  length,  elaboration,  and 
glowing  credulity.  He  had,  he  said,  received  a  vol 
uminous  mass  of  information  on  the  subject,  "but," 
he  adds.  "  little  has  been  given  under  the  sanction  of 

(173) 


174  HUNTING   A   CONSPIRACY. 

an  oath,  so  as  to  constitute  legal  and  formal  evidence. 
It  is  chiefly  in  the  form  of  letters,  often  containing 
such  a  mixture  of  rumors,  conjectures  and  suspicions 
as  renders  it  difficult  to  sift  out  the  real  facts,  and 
unadvisable  to  hazard  more  than  general  outlines, 
strengthened  by  the  concurrent  information  or  the 
particular  credibility  of  the  relator." 

"On  the  state  of  the  evidence,"  he  continues, 
"  neither  safety  nor  justice  will  permit  the  exposing  of 
names,  except  that  of  the  principal  actor,  whose  guilt 
is  placed  beyond  question."  On  this  state  of  the  evi 
dence,  on  these  "rumors,  conjectures,  and  suspic 
ions,"  Jie  proceeds  to  arraign  Aaron  Burr  for  a  high 
crime\  he  charges  him  with  having  "determined  to 
seize  on  New  Orleans,  plunder  the  bank  there,  pos 
sess  himself  of  the  military  and  naval  stores,  and  pro 
ceed  on  his  expedition  to  Mexico,  and  to  this  object," 
he  says^"  all  his  means  and  preparations  were  now 
directed. '^j  All  this  is  a  wonderful  deduction  from 
evidence  which  is  neither  legal  nor  formal,  and  con 
sisting  mostly  of  "  runxors,  conjectures  andjsjuspic- 
ions^'  The  president  felt  that  the  country  would 
require  better  evidence  than  he  had  thus  presented 
to  sustain  his  charge.  He  therefore  directed  General 
Andrew  Jackson  to  investigate  the  matter  and  report 
the  facts.  He  could  not  have  selected  n.  better  man 
to  run  down  a  traitor  than  treason-haling  Andrew 
Jackson.  His  report  from  Jackson  WUH  given  to 
congress  soon  after  he  had  sent  in  his  message  an- 


HUNTING   A   CONSPIRACY.  175 

nouncing  Burr's  treasonable  purpose.  The  president 
says:  "By  the  letters  of  Captain  Bissell,  who  com 
mands  at  Fort  Massac,  and  of  Mr.  Murrell  to  Gen 
eral  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  copies  of  which  are  now 
communicated  to  congress,  it  will  be  seen  that  Aaron 
Burr  passed  Fort  Massac  on  the  31st  of  December, 
with  about  ten  boats,  navigated  by  about  six  hands 
each,  without  any  military  appearance." 

The  president  suppressed  General  Jackson's  per 
sonal  report,  and  does  not  give,  in  his  message,  all 
that  Captain  Bissell  and  Mr.  Murrell  say  and  imply. 
The  report  of  Captain  Bissell  is  as  follows: 

"  FORT  MASSAC,  Jan.  5,  1807. 

"SiR: —  This  day,  per  express,  I  had  the  honor 
to  receive  your  very  interesting  letter  of  the  2nd 
inst.  I  shall  pay  due  respect  to  its  contents;  as  yet 
I  have  not  received  the  president's  proclamation  al 
luded  to,  nor  have  I  received  any  orders  from  the 
department  of  war  relative  to  the  subject  matter  of 
your  letter. 

' '  There  has  not,  to  my  knowledge,  been  any  as 
semblage  of  men  or  boats,  at  this  or  any  other  place, 
unauthorized  by  law  or  precedence  ;  but,  if  anything 
of  the  kind  makes  its  appearance,  which  carries 
with  it  the  least  mark  of  suspicion,  as  having  illegal 
enterprises  or  projects  in  view,  hostile  to  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  government,  I  shall,  with  as  much 
ardor  and  energy  as  the  case  will  admit,  endeavor 
to  bring  to  justice  all  such  offenders. 


176  HUNTING    A    CONSPIRACY. 

"  For  more  than  two  weeks  last  past  I  have  made 
it  a  point  to  make  myself  acquainted  with  the  loading 
and  situation  of  all  boats  descending  the  river.  As 
yet  there  has  nothing  the  least  alarming  appeared. 
On  or  about  the  31st  ultimo,  Colonel  Burr,  late  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States,  passed  this  with 
about  ten  boats,  of  different  descriptions,  navigated 
with  about  six  men  each,  having  nothing  on  board 
that  would  suffer  a  conjecture,  more  than  a  man 
bound  to  market ;  he  has  descended  the  rivers  toward 
Orleans.  Should  anything,  to  my  knowledge,  trans 
pire,  interesting  to  government,  I  will  give  the  most 
early  notice  in  my  power. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  respected  sir. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

DANIEL  BISSELL. 

GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON." 

Captain  Bissell  was,  at  the  time  he  made  this  re 
port,  United  States  army  officer  in  command  at  Fort 
Massac.  A  few  years  later,  in  the  war  of  1812,  for 
meritorious  conduct,  he  rapidly  rose  through  all  the 
grades  from  captain  to  brigadier  general.  He  was 
certainly  a  vigilant  officer,  whose  report  is  worthy 
of  all  confidence,  especially  as  it  is  indorsed  by  Jef 
ferson  himself,  in  laying  it  before  congress. 

The  following  is  the  report  of  Mr.  John  Murrell, 
an  agent  appointed  by  General  Jackson,  to  make 
special  investigation  of  the  actions  of  Burr: 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  177 

"NASHVILLE,  Jan.  8,  1807. 

"SiR: —  I  received  your  instructions,  dated  the 
2nd  instant,  and  agreeably  thereto  I  delivered  your 
letter,  addressed  to  General  Thomas  Johnson,  to 
Colonel  Cheatham,  and  it  was  forwarded  to  him  im 
mediately.  I  arrived  at  Centreville  on  the  4th  in 
stant  ;  heard  a  report  there  that  Colonel  Burr  had 
gone  down  the  river  with  one  thousand  armed  men  • 
arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  river  that 
evening,  and  made  inquiry  concerning  Colonel  Burr, 
and  was  informed  that  he  left  that  place  on  the  28th 
December,  1806,  with  ten  boats  of  different  descrip 
tions;  had  sixty  men  on  board,  but  no  appearance  of 
arms.  I  left  there  on  the  5th  instant,  and  arrived 
at  Fort  Massac  that  evening ;  delivered  your  letter 
to  Captain  Bissell,  and  received  his  answer ;  made 
some  inquiries  of  him,  and  was  informed  that  Colo 
nel  Burr  left  that  place  on  the  30th  of  December, 
with  ten  boats.  He  likewise  informed  me  that  he 
had  been  on  board  the  boats,  and  seen  no  appearance 
of  arms  or  ammunition.  On  my  return  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Cumberland  river,  I  was  informed  that  three 
boats  had  been  stopped  at  Louisville,  with  a  quantity 
of  ammunition.  There  are  about  fifty  men  stationed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland,  under  command  of 
Colonel  Eamsey. 

.1  remain  with  the  highest  esteem,  yours, 

JOHN  MURRELL. 
GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON." 


178  HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 

This  is  all  the  evidence  the  president  presented 
to  congress  to  sustain  his  charge  against  Burr  or  in 
justification  of  the  proclamation  he  issued  to  startle 
the  country^  Did  Mr.  Jefferson  believe,  on  this  evi 
dence,  that  Blurr,  with  sixty  unarmed  men,  was  on 
his  way  "  to  capture  New  Orleans,  plunder  the  bank, 
and  steal  the  military  and  naval  stores  in  that  city, 
and  then  proceed  to  Mexico  ?  "  If  he  did,  the  belief  in 
his  extraordinary  credulity  was  not  an  exaggeration  ; 
if  he  did  not,  what  judgment  should  be  pronounced^ 
upon  his  vindictive  persecution  of  Aaron  Burr?/ 
Tlie  investigation  made  by  General  Jackson  satis 


fied  him  fully  that  Burr  had  no  military  or  unlawful 
purpose  in  view.  During  the  trial  at  Richmond. 
Jackson  visited  that  city  and  made  a  public  speech 
to  the  people,  in  which  he  declared  that  Burr  was 
guilty  of  no  crime,  and  that  the  prosecution  was 
simply  a  persecution  on  the  part  of  Jefferson.  And 
in  this  belief  he  remained  as  long  as  he  lived. 

The  president  says,  in  his  message  to  congress, 
Jan.  22,  1807,  that  "  sometime  in  the  latter  part  of 
September,  I  received  intimations  that  designs  were 
in  agitation  in  the  western  country  unlawful  and 
unfriendly  to  the  peace  of  the  Union  ;  and  that  the 
prime  mover  in  these  was  Aaron  Burr,  heretofore 
distinguished  by  the  favor  of  his  country.  The 
grounds  of  these  intimations  being  inconclusive,  the 
objects  uncertain,  and  the  fidelity  of  that  country 
known  to  be  firm,  the  only  measure  taken  was  to 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  179 

urge  the  informants  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to 
get  further  insight  into  the  designs  and  proceedings 
of  the  suspected  persons,  and  to  communicate  them 
to  me."  And,  he  adds,  "  It  was  not  until  the  latter 
part  of  October  that  the  objects  of  this  conspiracy 
began  to  be  perceived."  If  the  president  means  to 
say  that  this  was  the  first  intimation  he  received^of 
a  conspiracy  existing  in  the  western  country  of  an 
unlawful  nature,  and  at  the  head  of  which  was 
Aaron  Burr,  he  misstates  the  facts.  He  had  such  in 
timation  as  early  as  January  10,  1806. 

The  United  States  District  Attorney  for  Ken 
tucky  was  Colonel  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  a  man 
of  ability  and  integrity,  but  of  unusually  strong 
prejudices.  He  was  so  great  an  admirer  of  Alexan 
der  Hamilton  that  he  added  the  name  of  Hamilton 
to  his  own,  which  before  had  been  simply  Joseph 
Daviess.  (This  devotion  to  Hamilton  caused  him  to 
entertain  an  intense  hatred  of  Burr.  Pondering 
over  the  visit  of  Burr  to  the  west  and  south  in  the 
summer  of  1805,  Daviess  finally  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  it  had  some  treasonable  purpose  in  view. 
The  fact  that  on  this  trip  he  had  met  General  Wil 
kinson,  who  was  generally  accused  of  having  been  a 
pensioner  of  Spain,  made  Daviess  believe  that  Burr 
was  engaged  with  him  in  reviving  the  old  schemes 
to  separate  the  western  states  from  tije  Union  and 
establish  a  new  government  under  the  protectorate 
of  Spain.  \  So  strongly  was  Daviess  impressed  with 


180  HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 

this  idea  that  on  the  10th  of  January,  1806,  he  wrote 
to  Jefferson,  culling  his  attention  to  the  matter,  and 
insisting  that  what  was  now  being  attempted  was 
undoubtedly  the  revival  of  the  old  plots  of  Wilkin 
son  and  Blount.  Daviess  continued  to  write  the 
president,  who  at  first  was  unresponsive.  He  knew 
of  Wilkinson's  former  efforts;  he  knew  the  General 
had  long  been  a  pensioner  of  Spain,  paid  to  produce 
discord  among  the  western  people  and  to  bring  about 
their  separation  from  the  Union.  ^  But  he  also  knew 
such  efforts  were  of  the  past  and  could  not  be  re 
vived  with  the  consent  of  either  th^^eople  of  the 
western  states  or  the  Spanish  authorities.) 

With  this  knowledge  he  gave  no  attention  to 
Colonel  Daviess'  communications.  At  that  time  his 
supreme  anger  against  Burr  had  not  been  aroused ; 
Burr  had  been  driven  from  the  political  field,  he  was 
no  longer  in  his  way,  and  he  did  not  care  to  pursue 
him  further.  Therefore,  Daviess'  efforts  to  enlist  his 
attention  to  Burr's  movements  were  futile.  Jeffer 
son  did  not  believe  that  Burr  would  engage  in  any 
unlawful  scheme,  much  less  in  any  treasonable  effort 
to  disrupt  the  Union ;  he  knew  Burr  had  bravely 
fought  for  the  independence  of  the  colonies  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Union.  He  had  himself  cer 
tified  to  his  ability,  his  integrity,  and  his  sound  judg 
ment.  Such  a  man  he  knew  would  not  engage  in 
any  wild  and  foolish  and  impossible  adventure,  lawful 
or  unlawful.  He  had,  therefore,  no  ear  for  Daviess' 


HUNTING   A  CONSPIRACY.  181 

complaints  or  sympathy  with  his  prejudices.  But 
the  time  came  when  Jefferson's  ire  was  aroused 
against  Burr.  It  was  about  the  middle  of  April, 
1806,  three  months  after  Daviess  had  commenced 
his  unheeded  warnings,  when  Jefferson  became  pos 
sessed  of  the  depositions  of  Bayard  and  Smith,  de 
tailing  the  intrigue  with  the  Federalists,  by  which 
Jefferson  secured  his  election  to  the  presidency,  in 
1801.  It  was  a  crushing  blow  to  the  president;  he 
believed  it  had  been  dealt  by  Burr's  hand.  It  had 
not ;  the  blow  came  from  Burr's  friends,  and  without 
his  knowledge.  It  was  a  stain  upon  Jefferson's 
character  he  could  not  remove.  He  dare  not  even 
disavow  it,  for  the  witnesses  were  at  hand  and  un 
impeachable.  *  His  mind  was  then  filled  with  venom 
and  vengeance  against  Burr,  and  he  determined  to 
pursue  him  to  the  death\ 

It  then  occurred  to  the  president  that  the  Daviess 
I  suspicions  might  be  doctored  into  something  re 
spectable  enough  to  cover  an  attack  on  Burr.  Cau 
tious  inquiries  were  made,  but  without  avail ;  Da 
viess'  suspicions  did  not  seem  to  be  shared  by  any 
other  person.  No  one  knew  of  anything  like  a  con 
spiracy  on  or  near  the  western  waters.  It  was  not 
until  near  the  end  of  September  that  he  began  to  re- 
receive  intimations  that  designs  were  in  agitation  in 
the  western  country,  unlawful  and  unfriendly  to  the 
peace  of  the  Union.  Although  it  had  taken  five 
months  to  work  up  these  intimations,  they  were  not 


182  HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 

entirely  satisfactory.  They  were,  the  president  said, 
u  inconclusive,"  their  "  objects  uncertain."  The  peo 
ple  seemed  apathetic,  they  did  not  appear  to  take 
any  interest  in  the  matter,  and  were  apparently  un 
conscious  of  the  danger  surrounding~EFeni. 

It  would  be  necessary  to  change  these  conditions 
before  the  president  dare  commit  himself  through  a 
public  proclamation.  The  people  of  the  western 
states  must,  in  some  way,  be  aroused  and  their  tears 
excited  by  a  knowledge  of  the  danger  threatening 
them.  The  president,  therefore,  thought  it  neces 
sary  to  send  secretly  a  trusty  agent  to  spy  out  "  the 
plots  going  on  "  among  these  deluded  people,  and 
especially  advise  the  "  Governors  and  other  officers, 
civil  and  military,''  of  the  serious  conditions  sur 
rounding  them,  and  of  which  they  seemed  utterly 
unconscious.  Beside  the  precaution  of  sending  out 
this  "confidential  agent"  to  the  western  waters, 
the  president  thoughtfully  sent  orders  to  the  "  Gov 
ernors  of  the  Orleans  and  Mississippi  territories, 
and  to  the  commanders  of  the  land  and  naval  forces 
there,"  to  caution  them  of  the  danger  of  being  taken 
by  surprise.  Instructions  were  forwarded,  also,  to 
General  Wilkinson,  the  commander  of  the  army  of 
the  United  States,  then  stationed  on  the  Sabine,  to 
repel  a  threatened  invasion  of  the  country  by  Span 
ish  troops.  The  general  was  instructed  to  hurry  up 
a  settlement  of  the  terms  of  peace  with  the  Spanish 
commandant,  and  hasten  back  to  the  banks  of  the 


HUNTING    A   CONSPIRACY.  183 

Mississippi,  "  for  the  defense  of  the  interesting  points 
on  that  river."  /It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  up  to 
this  time,  the  president  had  received  no  conclusive 
evidence  which  enabled  him  to  single  out  for  pursuit 
any  distinct  purpose  of  the  conspirators;  indeed, 
his  information  was  so  incomplete  it  did  not  enable 
him  to  be  certain  of  more  than  one  individual  be 
longing  to  the  conspiracy.  It  must  be  conceded, 
then,  that  the  precautions  taken  by  the  president  to 
protect  the  government  and  tkeUnion,  from  threat 
ened  danger,  were  amply  sufficient. 

It  is  not  certainly  known  just  when  the  corres 
pondence  bet  ween  _the_Pr_esident  and  General  Wil 
kinson  began,  or  which  of  the  parties  initiated  it,  but 
it  is  well  known  that  about  this  time  it  was  in  active 
operation.  Messengers,  between  the  correspondents, 
were  passing  and  repassing  with  little  intermission, 
as  though  the  negotiations  were  not  only  of  the 
highest  importance,  but  of  the  most  difficult  conclu 
sion.  It  is  not,  indeed,  known  whether  the  delay 
was  caused  in  securing  the  condoning  of  Wilkinson's 
old  crimes  or  in  gaining  his  consent  to  the  commis 
sion  of  new  ones.  After  events  cast  much  light 
upon  this  mystery.  The  president  lifts  the  veil,  in 
part,  on  the  27th  of  November,  when,  in  conse 
quence  of  a  communication  received  from  Wilkin 
son,  two  days  before,  he  determines  to  apprise  the 
people  "on  the  western  waters"  that  serious  danger 
threatened  them.  In  this  proclamation  no  mention 


184  HUNTING   A  CONSPIRACY. 

is  made  of  Burr;  it  simply  announces  that  "sundry 
persons"  are  confederating  "to  provide  and  prepare 
the  means  for  a  military  expedition  or  enterprise 
against  the  dominions  of  Spain."  There  is  no  charge 
of  any  treasonable  movement  made  or  contemplated 
against  the  United  States,  but  all  military  and  civil 
officers  are  instructed  to  watch  the  enterprise,  and  to 
seize  and  hold  all  persons  engaged  in  it.  The  effect 
of  this  proclamation  was  to  mystify  the  people  living 
upon  the  western  waters.  They  knew  of  no  con 
federation  or  conspiracy  to  eifect  the  purpose  an 
nounced  by  the  president,  and  believed  none  existed. 

The  president's  emissaries  as  yet  had  not  been 
successful ;  they  had  failed  to  arouse  the  people  to  a 
sense  of  danger,  or  to  move  the  governors  and  other 
officials  to  take  active  interest  in  the  matter.  It 
was,  therefore,  determined  by  the  government  that 
renewed  efforts  should  be  made  to  alarm  the  country. 
John  Graham,  the  secretary  »of  Orleans  territory, 
was  directed  to  visit  Kentucky  and  Ohio  for  the  pur 
pose  of  arousing  the  officials  to  greater  activity. 

Graham  went  first  to  Ohio  and  began  investiga 
tions,  but  could  gain  no  information;  peace,  pros 
perity  and  quiet  prevailed.  He  called  upon  Gov 
ernor  Tiffin,  who  assured  him  there  was  no  war, 
nor  any  signs  of  war,  in  that  state.  The  "special 
agent"  insisted  he  was  mistaken.  There  were  some 
boats  being  built  for  Colonel  Burr,  on  the  Muskingum 
river,  evidently  for  some  improper  purpose,  and 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  185 

these,  the  agent  said,  should  be  seized  and  destroyed. 
But,  the  governor  insisted,  such  boats  are  not  war 
vessels;  they  are  being  constantly  built  for  others, 
and  used  in  the  ordinary  river  traffidTjriiey  are 
too  frail  for  war  purposes,  and,  besidesV^hrere  is  no 
war  pending  or  likely  to  be  soon.  The  governor 
was  obdurate.  Then  Graham  produced  the  orders  of 
the  president.  Still  the  governor  hesitated,  but  con 
sented  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  legislature,  then  in 
session. 

The  legislature  responded  promptly  and  passed 
'•an  act  to  prevent  certain  acts  hostile  to  the  peace  and 
tranquility  of  the  United  States,  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  state  of  Ohio."  Under  the  authority  of  this  law 
the  governor  ordered  out  the  militia  of  the  county. 
A  local  report,  made  at  the  time,  records  the  doings 
of  this  company  as  follows:  %tA  warlike  array  of 
undisciplined  militia,  with  cannon,  necessary  equip 
age  and  arms,  stationed  themselves  along  the  banks 
of  the  river,  to  cut  off  the  forces  expected  from 
above.  Many  amusing  jokes  were  got  off  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  raw  recruits  during  this  campaign, 
such  as  setting  an  empty  tar  barrel  on  fire  and  plac 
ing  it  in  an  old  boat  or  raft  of  logs,  to  float  by  in  the 
darkness  of  night.  The  sentries,  after  duly  hailing 
and  receiving  no  answer,  would  fire  a  shot  to  en 
force  their  commands  ;  but  still  dead  silence  reigned, 
and  calmly  the  phantom  vessel,  with  her  stolid  crew, 
floated  onward  and  downward,  in  utter  recklessness 


186  HUNTING    A   CONSPIRACY. 

and  indifference.  Irritated  at  such  manifest  contempt 
of  their  high  authority,  they  plunged  into  the  stream 
to  seize  the  boat  and  capture  its  luckless  navigators, 
when  'confusion,  utterly  confounded.'  nothing  ap 
peared  but  the  remains  of  a  log  and  a  barrel,  which 
some  laughter-loving  wag  had  freighted  for  their 
mischance  and  his  own  amusement."  Pranks  of  this 
kind  and  others  more  amusing,  were  nightly  played 
off  on  these  reluctant  defenders  of  the  Union.  It 
was  the  only  war  discovered  within  the  borders  of 
Ohio,  and  Graham's  special  mission  failed  in  its  main 

pur  nose. 

\ 

iThe  only  real  war  known  to  the  western  waters 

occurred  at  Blennerhassett's  Island,  in  Wood  county, 
Virginia,  and  for  this  Mr.  Graham  was  in  no  way 
responsible.  It  was  instigated  solely  by  the  presi 
dent's  proclamation  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people 
of  Wood  county.  A  company  of  militia  invaded 
the  island  to  storm  the  enchanted  castle  thereon,  but 
found  it  deserted.  They  valiantly  broke  down  the 
doors,  entered  and  took  possession.  In  the  cellar 
they  found  a  store  of  wines  and  brandies  —  these 
they  drank  and  were  soon  drunk.  Then  the  war 
began,  drunkenness  gave  them  courage,  and  courage 
and  patriotism  combined,  made  them  belligerent. 
Soon  the  beautiful  home,  so  eloquently  described  by 
Wirt  in  one  of  his  speeches  at  the  trial  of  Burr,  was 
in  ruins,  the  furniture  broken  into  fragments,  the 
embellishments  torn  from  the  walls,  the  pictures  de- 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  187 

faced,  the  books  ruined,  the  carpets,  curtains  and 
everything  utterly  destroyed.  And  the  shrubbery  — 
ua  shrubbery  which  Shenstone  might  have  envied," 
was  trodden  down  and  ruined  by  the  drunken  mili 
tia.  This  was  war,  devastating  war,  not  by  a  con- 
spiracy  ot  traitors,  but  tfrft  legitimate  result  of  a 
wicked  effort  toexcite  and  inflame  the  public  mind, 
by  a  credulousand  revengeful  executive. 

Colonel  Daviess,  the  United  States  district  attor 
ney  for  Kentucky,  had,  for  nearly  a  year,  been 
writing,  letter  after  letter,  to  Jefferson  assuring  him 
that  a  treasonable  conspiracy  existed  on  the  Ohio,  but 
Jefferson  gave  no  heed  to  his  importunity.  Daviess 
at  length  determined  to  acton  his  own  responsibility. 
On  the  5th  of  November  he  filed  an  affidavit  in  the 
United  States  district  court,  then  in  session  at  Frank 
fort,  charging  Burr  with  having  formed  an  enter 
prise,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  invade  Mexico 
and  make  war  upon  Spain,  all  of  which  was  in  vio 
lation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  He  there 
upon  moved  for  the  arrest  of  Burr.  After  a  few 
days  consideration  the  judge  decided  that  the  evi 
dence  presented  was  not  sufficient  to  authorize  the 
arrest  demanded.  Daviess  then  asked  that  a  grand 
jury  be  summoned  to  consider  the  evidence.  The 
court  hesitated,  and  was  about  to  refuse  the  request, 
when  Burr,  who  was  present,  rose  and  insisted  that 
the  grand  jury  should  be  called  and  the  investiga 
tion  made.  A  grand  jury  was  at  once  formed  from 


188  HUNTING   A  CONSPIRACY. 

the  people  present,  and  the  examination  set  for  that 
day  week.  On  the  day  appointed  the  court  house 
was  crowded  to  suffocation  ;  not  only  the  citizens  of 
Frankfort,  but  for  miles  aroiind,  the  people  had  come 
to  hear  the  result.  When  the  jury  was  called  one 
member  did  not  respond ;  during  the  delay  in  filling 
the  vacancy,  Colonel  Daviess  moved  the  dismissal  of 
the  jury,  saying  he  was  not  ready  to  present  his  evi 
dence.  This  announcement  was  greeted  with  roars 
of  laughter  and  shouts  of  derision,  from  the  crowded 
court  room.  There  did  not  seem  to  be  a  single  indi 
vidual  in  sympathy  with  Daviess;  the  united  voice 
of  the  people  was  in  wild  acclaim  for  Burr. 

But  Daviess  was  not  disheartened  ;  on  Novem 
ber  25th  he  renewed  his  motion,  and  December  2nd 
was  set  for  the  presentation  of  the  evidence.  This 
second  attempt  to  indict  Burr  proved  as  great  a 
farce  as  was  the  first,  and  ended  with  the  same  wild 
demonstration  of  approval  by  the  people.  Henry 
J2Ia3L-was  attorney  for  Burr  on  both  these  occasions. 
In  a  letter  to  Dr.  E.  Pindell,  in  December,  1828,  he 
gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  scene  in  the  court 
room,  on  the  return  of  the  jury  refusing  to  indict 
Burr.  He  says:  "Public  prosecutions  were^  com 
menced,  in  the  Federal  Court  of  Kentacks^against 
Colonel  Burr,  in  the  fall  of  1806.  He  applied  to  me 

_  r  ^^  *  i 

and  I  engaged  as  his  counsel,  in  conjunction  with 
the  late  Colonel  .John  Allen,  to  defend  him.  The 
prosecutions  were  conducted  by  the  late  Colonel 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  189 

Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  a  man  of  genius,  but  of 
strong  prejudices,  who  was  so  great  an  admirer  of 
Colonel  Hamilton,  that,  after  he  had  attained  full 
age,  he  (Colonel  D.)  adopted  a  part  of  his  name  as 
his  own.  Both  Colonel  Allen  and  myself  believed 
there  was  no  ground  for  the  prosecutions,  and  that 
Colonel  Daviess  was  chiefly  moved  to  institute  them 
by  his  admiration  of  Colonel  Hamilton  and  his  hatred! 
of  Colonel  Burr.  Such  was  our  conviction  of  the 
innocence  of  the  accused,  that,  when  he  sent  us  a 
considerable  fee  we  resolved  to  decline  accepting  it, 
and  accordingly  returned  it.  We  said  to  each  other: 
Colonel  Burr  has  been  an  eminent  member  of  the 
profession,  has  been  attorney-general  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  is  prosecuted  without  cause  in  a  distant 
state,  and  we  ought  not  to  regard  him  in  the  light  of 
an  ordinary  culprit.  The  first  prosecution  entirely 
tailed.  A  second  was  shortly  afterward  instituted. 
Between  the  two  I  was  appointed  a  senator  of  the 
United  States.  In  consequence  of  that  relation  to 
the  general  government,  Colonel  Burr,  who  still 
wished  me  to  appear  for  him,  addressed  the  note 
to  me,  of  which  a  copy  is  herewith  transmitted.  I 
accordingly  again  appeared  for  him,  with  Colonel 
Allen  ;  and  when  the  grand  jury  returned  the  bill  of 
indictment  not  true,  a  scene  was  presented  in  the 
court-room  which  I  had  never  before  witnessed  in 
Kentucky.  There  were  shouts  of  applause  from  an 
audience  not  one  of  whom,  I  am  persuaded,  would 


190  HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY. 

have  hesitated  to  level  a  rifle  against  Colonel  Burr 
if  he  believed  that  he  aimed  to  dismember  the  Union, 
or  sought  to  violate  its  peace  or  overturn  its  consti 
tution." 

A  few  days  before  this  triumphal  acquittal  of 
Burr,  not  only  by  the  grand  jury  of  Kentucky  but 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  people,  Jefferson 
launched  upon  the  country  a  proclamation  opening 
with  the  following  statement: 

V  "  Whereas  information  has  been  received  that 
sunfrrjrpersons,  citizens  of  the  United  States  or  resi 
dents  within  the  same,  are  conspiring  and  confed 
erating  together  to  begin  and  set  on  foot,  provide 
and  prepare  the  means  for  a  military  expedition  or 
enterprise  against  the  dominions  of  Spain ;  that  for 
this  purpose  they  are  fitting  out  and  arming  vessels 
in  the  western  waters  of  the  United  States,  collect 
ing  provisions,  arms,  military  stores  and  means ; 
are  deceiving  and  seducing  honest  and  well-mean 
ing  citizens,  under  various  pretenses,  to  engage  in 
their  criminal  enterprises;  are  organizing,  officering 
and  arming  themselves  for  the  sameT-eontrary  to  the 
laws  in  such  cases  made  and  provided}' 

It  is  not  probable  that  Jefferson,  with  all  his 
extraordinary  credulity,  believed  a  single  word  of 
this  statement.^  In  any  proper  sense  there  is  not 
one  word  of  trutnTn  it.  There  was  no  conspiring  to 
set  on  foot  a  military  expedition  for  any  purpose ; 
there  was  no  fitting  out  and  arming  vessels  on  the 


HUNTING   A  CONSPIRACY.  191 

western  waters;  there  was  no  collecting  of  arms  and 
military  stores ;  there  was  no  seducing  of  any  one  to 
engage  in  criminal  enterprises;  there  was  no  officer 
ing  or  arming  for  any  purpose.  The  whole  state 
ment  in  the  sense  intended  was  utterly  void  of  truth. 
This  was  shown  positively  by  the  official  report 
of  Captain  Bissell,  dated  January  5,  1807,  more  than 
a  month  after  the  date  of  the  president's  proclama 
tion.  Captain  Bissell  was  the  commandant  of  Fort 
Massac,  a  military  station  on  the  Ohio  river,  one  of 
the  principal  of  the  western  waters,  on  which  the 
president  locates  the  activity  of  the  conspirators  in 
"fitting  out  and  arming  vessels/'  and  preparing  a 
military  expedition  "  against  the  dominions  of  Spain." 
Captain  Bissell  was  a  vigilant  officer,  who  rose  to 
distinguished  rank  in  the  United  States  service.  No 
such  preparation  could  be  going  on  around  him  and 
he  not  know  it.  Yet  six  week^after  the  proclama 
tion  was  issued  he  certifies  thatl  u  There  has  not,  to 
my  knowledge,  been  any  assemblage  of  men  or 
boats,  at  this  or— arm  other  place,  unauthorized  by 
law  or  precedency.''  j  There  was  not  one  word  of 
truth  in  the  proclajafltation.  Jefferson's  credulity  and 
his  vindictive  feelings  toward  Burr,  at  that  time,  led 
him  to  issue  his  proclamation,  with  no  other  evidence 
of  its  necessity  than  the  groundless  and  ridiculous 
rumors  set  afloat  by  his  own  emissaries  in  the  first 
instance.  His  strong  and  persistent  fight  to  convict 
Burr  afterward  was  largely  to  avoid  the  ridicule 


192  HUNTING   A   CONSPIRACY. 

which  would  follow  the  discovery  that  he  had  thrown 
the  country  into  intense  excitement  and  wild  alarm 
over  a  ll  bugaboo." 

Nearly  two  months  after  he  issued  his  scare 
proclamation,  Jefferson,  in  his  message  to  congress, 
of  the  22nd  January,  1807,  admits  he  had  no  just 
grounds  for  alarming  the  country  by  the  action  he 
had  taken.  Even  then,  two  months  after  the  dec 
larations  made  in  his  proclamation,  he  had  no  relia 
ble  evidence  to  sustain  his  assertions.  He  tells  con 
gress  in  this  message,  referring  to  the  evidence  that 
a  conspiracy  existed,  for  the  purpose  he  had  named, 
"  The  mass  of  what  I  have  received  in  the  course  of 
these  transactions,  is  voluminous  ;  but  little  has  been 
given  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath,  so  as  to  consti 
tute  formal  and  legal  evidence.  It  is  chiefly  in 
the  form  of  letters,  often  containing  such  a  mixture 
of  rumors,  conjectures  and  suspicions,  as  renders  it 
difficult  to  sift  out  the  real  facts,  and  unadvisable  to 
hazard  more  than  general  outlines,  strengthened  by 
concurrent  information,  on  the  particular  credibility 
of  the  relator.'Jj  This  is  certainly  a  humble  confession 
to  make  two  months  after  he  had  startled  the  coun 
try  with  the  false  statement  that  conspirators  "  are 
fitting  out  and  arming  vessels  in  the  western  waters," 
\  "  collecting  provisions,  arms,  military  stores,"  "  and 
are  organizing,  officering  and  arming  themselves," 
"  for  a  military  expedition  or  enterprise  against  the 
dominions  of  Spain."  Nothing  of  this  kind  was  be- 


HUNTING  A  CONSPIRACY.  193 

ing  done  or  even  in  contemplation,  nor  did  the  people 
living  on  the  western  waters  even  suspect  anything 
of  the  kind,  at  the  time  Jefferson  issued  his  procla 
mation.  How  could  all  this  be  doing  and  the  people 
know  nothing  of  it?  How_could  Jefferson  believe 
it  whenlifi_-GOttld-naine_  but  one  man  who  was  en 
gaged  in  it? 


CHAPTER  IX. 


TERRORIZING  THE  PEOPLE. 


Wilkinson's  Work  at  New  Orleans  —  Creating  Excitement  and  Clamor- 
Trampling  upon  the  Constitution  and  the  Law  — Defying  the 
Courts  — Making  Military  Arrests  —  Arresting  and  Deporting  Inno 
cent  Men  —  Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus  by  the  Senate  —  A  Sti 
pendiary  of  Spain  —  Randolph  Denounces  Wilkinson  —  Jefferson  De 
ceives  Bollman  —Clark's  Statement. 


But  tbe-fcerronJefferson  had  created  on  the  west 
ern  waters  by  hia  proclamations  and  orders  and 
secret  emissaries,  was  trifling  comparfiii_to  that  pro 


duced  by  his  special  agent,  Wilkins^n^al^New  Or 
leans.  He  was  doing  the  president's  work  with  a 
zeal  that  shamed  into  insignificance  anything  at 
tempted  in  Ohio  or  Kentucky.  He  was  working  to 
secure  the  condoning  of  his  own  crimes,  which  were 
blacker  and  baser  than  anything  ever  alleged  against 
Burr.  As  John  Randolph  phrased  it,  "  to  cover  him 
self  from  suspicion  he  out-Heroded  Herod  "  in  his 
efforts  to  create  excitement  against  Burr.  He  was 
commander  of  the  army  at  New  Orleans;  he  was 
charged  with  the  duty  of  defending  that  city  from 
the  threatened  attack.  He  knew  just  what  force  was 

(194) 


. 


TERRORI/ING   THE   PEOPLE.  195 

coming  to  attack  it ;  and  he  knew  that  a  corporal's 
guard  from  his  own  army  could  capture  the  whole 
of  Burr's  party.  But  it  did  not  suit  his.  instructions 
to  proclaim  this  to  the  people. 

js  duty  was  to  terrorize  the  people,  to  frighten 
hem  into  the  belief  that  Burr  was  coming  with  a 
large  and  lawless  horde  of  marauders  to  capture  the 
city,  rob  the  banks,  plunder  the  people,  and  steal 
everything  belonging  to  the  government.^  This  work 
he  did  thoroughly  ;  he  brought  in  a  body  of  soldiers ; 
he  took  command  of  the  militia;  he  called  the  legis 
lature  together  and  demanded  money  to  pay  for  the 
fortifications  to  be  erected.  The  rumors  he  put  in 
circulation  were  as  numerous  as  they  were  ridiculous. 
He  created  the  belief  that  the  conspiracy  covered 
the  whole  country;  that  men  of  wealth  were  con 
tributing  large  sums  to  furnish  the  sinews  of  war. 
That  already  thousands  of  young  men,  in  the  east  as 
well  as  in  the  west,  were  enlisted  under  Burr's  ban 
ner,  and  prepared  to  march  whenever  he  gave  the 
order.. 

\A.t  one  time  it  was  announced  that  an  army  num 
bering  thousands  was  on  the  march  to  capture  New 
Orleans,  seize  all  the  shipping  in  port,  and  sail  on 
to  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  Again  Burr  with  two 
thousand  men  was  descending  the  river,  in  armed 
vessels,  to  sack  the  city,  rob  the  banks  and  business 
houses,  and  perhaps  murder  the  inhabitants.  Mar 
tial  law  was  proclaimed,  and  proclamations  issued 


196  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

notifying  every  able-bodied  man  to  hold  himself  in 
readiness  at  a  moment's  notice  to  fall  into  ranks  and 
repel  the  invaders.  Meetings  were  held,  at  which 
Wilkinson  made  speeches  and  assured  the  people  he 
was  ready  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  in  their 
defense.  Volunteer  companies  were  formed  and  par 
aded  the  streets  during  the  day  and  were  advised  to 
sleep  on  their  arms  at  night.  Nothing  was  too  ridic 
ulous  to  be  told  or  believed. 

He  sent  a  special  messenger  to  the  British  admi 
ral  at  Jamaica,  to  warn  him  against  Burr's  emissa 
ries,  who  were,  he  said,  on  their  way  to  enlist  him 
in  their  cause.  The  marines  on  the  vessels  in  port, 
not  only  American  but  foreign  also,  were  appealed 
to  and  their  assistance  implored.  All  business  was 
neglected.  The  country  people  dared  not  visit  the 
city,  and  extreme  suffering  seized  the  poorer  classes. 
But  this  folly  could  not  last ;  as  time  passed  and  no 
invaders  appeared,  the  voice  of  reason  began  to  be 
heard.  Sensible  men  protested  against  Wilkinson's 
arbitrary  proceedings,  and  a  reaction  set  in.  "  The 
savior  of  the  city,"  as  Wilkinson  had  proclaimed 
himself,  was  openly  derided  and  assailed  with  ridi 
cule.  The  press  denounced  him,  and  the  grand 
jury  presented  his  proceedings  as  unlawful.  But  he 
was  military  commander  and  able  to  defy  those  who 
objected.  And  one  writer  says,  being  "  comforted 
by  a  very  long,  complimentary  and  confidential  let 
ter  from  Jefferson,  he  held  his  course,  and  ruled  the 


TERRORIZING  THE   PEOPLE.  197 

territory  with  a  high  and  mighty  hand  —  to  the 
wrathful  disgust  of  a  majority  of  the  American  resi 
dents/'  Indeed  knowing  that  the  president  approved 
and  sustained  his  proceedings  he  cared  nothing  for 
the  complaints  of  the  people,  but  continued  to  set  at 
defiance  the  civil  government  and  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  seizing  persons  charged  with 
no  crime,  and  sending  them  hundreds  of  miles  away 
as  military  prisoners. 

The  caseof  Dr.  Erick  Boll  man 


was  an  educated  gentleman,  re 
cently  brought  into  public  notice  by  a  gallant  but 
unsuccessful  effort  to  aid  the  escape  of  General  La 
fayette  from  his  prison  in  the  castle  of  Olrautz,  Aus 
tria.  Bollman  was  seized  by  Wilkinson's  order, 
hurried  to  a  vessel  anchored  off  the  city,  and  started 
to  Washington,  fifteen  hundred  miles  away,  a  mili 
tary  prisoner.  Along  with  Bollman  was  sent  Swart- 
wout.  Ogden  was  arrested  but  held  at  New  Orleans. 
The  superior  court  of  the  city  issued  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  at  Ogden's  instance,  and  set  him  free.  Wilk 
inson  again  arrested  him  and  the  court  again  ordered 
him  released.  Wilkinson  defied  the  court  and  held 
his  prisoner.  Wilkinson  was  attached  for  contempt 
of  court,  and  he  treated  the  attachment  with  con 
tempt.  The  court  was  powerless  to  enforce  the  law. 
and  in  disgust  the  judge  resigned.  Wilkinson  then 
became  military  dictator  of  the  cifyTand  continued 
to  arrest  and  deport^noen-  with  out  restraint. 


198  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

In  his  message  of  January  22d,  the  president 
refers  to  recent  letters  received  from  Wilkinson,  and 
then  says:  "By  these  it  will  be  seen  that  three  of 
the  principal  emissaries  of  Mr.  Burr,  whom  the  Gen 
eral  has  caused  to  be  apprehended;  one  had  been  lib 
erated  by  habeas  corpus,  and  two  others,  being  those 
particularly  employed  in  the  endeavor  to  corrupt  the 
general  and  army  of  the  United  States,  have  been 
embarked  by  him  for  ports  in  the  Atlantic  states, 
probably  on  the  consideration  that  an  impartial  trial 
could  not  be  expected  during  the  present  agitation 
of  New  Orleans,  and  that  that  city  was  not  as  yet  a 
safe  place  of  confinement.  As  soon  as  these  persons 
shall  arrive,  they  will  be  delivered  to  the  custody  of 
the  law,  and  left  to  such  course  of  trial,  both  as  to 
place  and  progress,  as  its  functionaries  may  direct. 
The  presence  of  the  highest  judicial  authorities,  to  be 
assembled  at  this  place  within  a  few  days,  .the  means 
of  pursuing  a  sounder  course  of  proceedings  here 
than  elsewhere,  and  the  aid.  of  the  executive  means, 
should  the  judges  have  occasion  to  use  them,  render 
it  equally  desirable  for  the  criminals  as  for  the  pub 
lic,  that,  being  already  removed  from  the  place  where 
they  were  first  apprehended,  the  first  regular  arrest 
should  take  place  here,  and  the  course  of  proceed 
ings  receive  here  their  proper  direction.  ' 

This  is  a  remarkable  statement  in  several  re 
spects.  The  president  assumes  the  guilt  of  these 
"criminals"  before  they  have  been  legally  arrested. 


TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE.  199 

tried  and  convicted.  He  justifies  Wilkinson's  un 
lawful  acts  in  arresting  and  transporting  these  men 
and  tries  to  excuse  them,  on  the  flimsy  grounds  that 
the  prisoners  could  not  safely  be  helcTbr  fairly  tried 
where,  if  they  were  guilty,  their  crimes  had  been 
committed.  He  promises  to  deliver  them  to  the 
custody  of  the  law.  He  thinks  they  can  be  tried  at 
Washington  as  welt  as  elsewhere,  and  offers  the  courts 
the  "aid  of  the  executive  means"  to  bring  the 
"criminals"  to  justice,  and  suggests  that  their  first 
regular  arrest  be  now  made.  He  flounders  greatly  in 
his  attempts  to  excuse  Wilkinson,  and  shows  anxiety 
to  hold  the  u  emissaries  "  now  that  he  has  them  in 
possession. 

But  th$  real  reason  for  bringing  these  men  from 
New  Orleans  to  Washington,  was  not  to  try  them 
for  crime  committed.  Jefferson  knew,  and  Wilkin 
son  knew,  there  was  no  evidence  to  convict  them  of 
any  crime  whatever.  Wh^tthey  were  working  for 
was  evidence  against  Burr.  They  believed  these 
men  mTgfif  be  induced  to  tell  something  tending  to 
criminate  Burr.  Wilkinson  had  failed,  and  Jeffer 
son  now  wished  to  try  his  powers.  He  did  try  ;  he 
examined  Bollman  for  hours,  privately  in  his  room 
in  the  executive  mansion.  But  he  failed  to  secure 
any  evidence  of  unlawful  proceedings  on  the  part  of 
Burr.  He  then  tried  another  plan.  Bollman  was  a 
foreigner,  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  use  of 
English  words,  and  therefore  awkward  in  expression. 


L>00  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

Jefferson  hoped  if  he  could  get  Bollman  to  repeat 
his  statement  in  writing  he  might,  through  somle 
blunder  of  expression,  criminate  himself,,  and  possi 
bly  Burr  as  well.  On  the  day  following  his  exami 
nation  by  Jefferson,  Bollman  received  the  following 
note  from  the  president: 

"The  communications  which  Doctor  Bollman 
made  yesterday  to  Thomas  Jefferson  were  certainly 
interesting  ;  but  they  were  too  much  for  his  memory. 
From  their  complexion  and  tendency,  he  presumes 
that  Dr.  Bollman  would  have  no  objection  to  com 
mit  them  to  writing,  in  all  the  details  into  which  he 
went  yesterdavj  and  such  others  as  he  may  have 
then  cmittedAThomas  Jefferson  giving  him  his  word 
of  honor  that  they  shall  never  be  used  against  hi 
self,  and  that  the  paper  shall  never  go  out  of  his  hand. 

January  25,  1807." 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Jefferson  had  pledged  "his 
word  of  honor"  that  the  paper  should  not  be  used 
against  Bollnian,and  that  it  should  "never  go  out  of 
his  handf  the  identical  paper  turned  up  at  the  trial 
of  Burr,  in  the  hands  of  the  district  attorney,  to 
gether  with  a  pardon  for  Bollman,  on  condition  he 
would  testify  in  the  case.\  This  pardon  Bollman  in 
dignantly  refused  to  Tcc*cept,  declaring  he  had  done 
nothing  requiring  a  pardon.  In  commenting  on  this 
matter  afterwards,  Bollmun  paid:  '-The  president 
luid  given  '  his  word  of  honor'  that  this  paper  should 
not  be  used  against  myself;  and  yet  on  it  was  predi- 


TERRORIZING   THE    PEOPLE..  201 

cated  the  pretended  necessity  of  a  pardon  for  my 
personal  safety.  The  attorney  for  the  district  (Mr. 
Hay),  in  open  court,  when  ottering  me  the  patent 
pardon,  referred  to  it.  Nay,  when  I  indignantly 
refused  that  pardon,  he  reminded  me  of  the  horrors  of 
an  ignominious  fate,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  change 
my  determination.  Is  a  paper  not  used  against  me 
when,  on  account  of  its  contents  being  misunder 
stood,  I  am  thus  assailed  with  the  tender  of  a  badge 
of  infamy?  Is  life,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  all: 
and  character  and  reputation,  which  alone  can  render 
it  desirable,  nothing?  "  Dr.  Bollman  was  surprised 
that  Mr.  Jefferson  valued  his  honor  so  lightly,  and 
could  not  understand  why  he  should  be  offered  a 
pardon  when  he  had  not  been  tried  or  convicted  of 
any  crime.  But  he  did  not  understand  the  president  ; 
he  did  not  know  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  solemnly 
declared  Burr  and  all  "  accomplices  ''  guilty,  and  that, 
of  course,  they  were  to  be  considered  guilty  without 
further  question. 

To  prevent  the  release  by  the  courts  of  the 
prisoners  unlawfully  arrested  by  Wilkinson,  and 
possibly  of  Burr  himself,  Jefferson  at  once  sought  to 
ho  rjfr.'/if  7i"i.'n-  in"1  *""-"""i™*  On  the 


evening  of  the  day  he  sent  in  his  message  lamenting 
that  the  courts  were  interfering  with  Wilkinson's  ar 
rests,  he  sent  for  Senator  Giles,  of  Virginia,  a  mem 
ber  of  what  John  Eandolph  called  "the  president's 
back  stairs  cabinet/'  Giles  was  instructed  in  the 


202  TERRORIZING  THE   PEOPLE. 

importance  of  having  the  courts  tied  up  for  two  or 
three  months,  so  that  they  could  not  release  pris 
oners  arrested  by  military  authority,  and  also  in  the 
necessity  of  prompt  action  in  the  matter.  Giles  en 
gaged  in  the  work  with  alacrity.  The  following 
morning,  January  2Hrd,  he  moved  the  senate  go  into 
secret  session.  He  then  moved  that  a  committee 
consisting  of  Giles,  Adams  and  Smith,  of  Maryland, 
be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  sus 
pending  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
That  the  committee  might  understand  the  necessity 
of  immediate  action,  the  president's  message  of  the 
day  before  (the  22d)  was  also  referred  to  it.  The 
committee  met,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Giles  re 
ported  a  bill  suspending  the  privilege  of  the  writ  in 
certain  cases,  for  three  months.  The  rules  were  by 
unanimous  consent  suspended,  the  bill  was  read 
three  times,  was  engrossed,  and  the  title  declared  to 
be  "An  act  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  for  a  limited  time  in  certain  cases." 
The  bill  passed  all  the  stages  of  legislation,  in  less 
than  two  hours,  in  a  subservient  senate.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  characterize  this  work ;  it  was,  at  the 
time,  severely  and  almost  universally  denounced  as 
an  outrage. 

This  bill  was  sent  to  the  house  of  representatives, 
with  a  request  that  it  be  considered  confidentially. 
The  house,  therefore,  received  it  with  closed  doors. 
When  the  bill  was  read  for  information,  a  member 


TERRORIZING  THE  PEOPLE.  203 

declared  it  ought  not  to  be  considered  in  secret,  and 
moved  that  the  doors  be  opened.  This  motion  pre 
vailed  by  a  vote  of  123  in  the  affirmative  and  3  in 
the  negative.  A  motion  was  then  made  that  the  bill 
be  rejected^  Thia  nrntinp  waa  a  rebuff  to  the  senate 
for  passing  the  bill,  a  motion  which  is  regarded  as 
the  greatest  possible  indignity.  For  this,  reason  some 
members  opposed  it.  After  discussion,  the  motion 
was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  113  ayes  to  19  nays. 

The  debate  on  this  question  in  the  house  no  doubt 
made  the  president  writhe  not  a  little.  It  was  fully 
understood  for  what  purpose  the  bill  had  been  so 
hastily  rushed  through  the  senate,  and  at  whose  re 
quest  the  indecent  work  had  been  done.  The  presi 
dent  was  lampooned  quite  freely  for  attempting  to 
frighten  the  country  when  there  was  nothing  to  be 
scared  at.  One  member  quoted  the  president  as  say 
ing  :  "  On  the  whole,  the  fugitives  from  Ohio,  and 
their  associates  from  the  Cumberland,' or  any  other 
places^  in  that  quarter,  cannot  threaten  serious  dan 
ger  to  the  city  of  Xew  Orleans/'  "  And  if  this  be 
the  case,''  asks  the  member,  "  upon  what  ground 
shall  we  suspend  the  wr'il~6¥~Tiabeas  "corpus  ?  "  This 
member  had  not  yet  learned  that  the  will  of  the 
president  was  sufficient  ground  for  any  proceeding. 

Another  member  devotes  his  time  entirely  to  an 
effort  to  alleviate  the  president's  fright  by  convincing 
him  that  there  is  no  danger  threatening  the  country 
or  its  people.  He  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  presi- 


< — ^ 


C 


204  TERRORIZING    THE    PEOPLE. 

dent  informed  congress  that  the  force  of  the  con 
spirators  consisted  of  "  some  boats,  accounts  vary 
from  five  to  double  or  treble  that  number,  and  per 
sons,  differently  estimated  from  one  to  three  hun 
dred,  had  passed  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  to  rendezvous 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  river."  "  From 
the  same  document,"  continues  this  member,  "it 
appears  that  the  force  which  went  down  the  Cum 
berland  river  amounts  to  two  boats,  in  one  of  which 
is  Aaron  Burr.  From  this  statement,  it  appears 
that  the  largest  calculation  as  to  the  actual  force 
of  the  conspirators  is  three  hundred.  But  we  know 
the  propensity  of  human  nature  to  magnify  accounts 
of  this  kind;  we  may  fairly  infer  that  the  whole 
force  does  not  exceed  ^r&..  Jmndred _and  fi fty  men . 
To  oppose  this  we  have  one  thousand  regular  troops 
and  the  militia  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Orleans  territories?  Is  there 
a  man  present  who  believes,  on  this  statement,  that 
the  public  safety  requires  a  suspension  of  the  habeas 
corpus/"  Five  days  after  this  argument  was  made 
the  president  officially  informed  congress  that  the 
whole  force  of  the  "conspirators"  consisted  of  ten 
boats  with  six  men  to  a  boat,  and  were  "without  any 
military  appearance."  The  president  may  have  been 
frightened  ;  he  may  have  frightened  the  senate,  but 
the  cooler  heads  of  the  house  of  representatives  ridi 
culed  their  fright  and  rejected  their  proposition 
to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  by  an  almost 


TERRORIZING   THE    PEOPLE.  205 

unanimous  vote.  It  is  thus  shown  that,  notwith 
standing  the  clamor  created  by  the  president  in  the 
western  states,  the  common  sense  of  congress  was 
never  deceived  by  it. 

To  assuage  the  disappointment  of  the  president, 
caused  by  the  unceremonious  rejection  of  the  senate 
bill  suspending  the  privilege  of  the~~writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  some  of  his  friends  in  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives  introduced  a  bill  to  amend  the  existing 
law.  The  discussion  of  this  amendment  involved  a 
free  reference  to  Wilkinson's  conduct  at  ]^ew  Or 
leans,  and  from  many  of  the  members  severe  con 
demnation  of  it.  The  high  handed  violations  of  the 
law,  of  the  constitution,  and  the  universally  ac 
knowledged  rights  of  the  citizen,  by  the  commander  - 
in-chief  of  the  army,  were  pointed  out  and  severely 
censured  by  many  members  of  congress.  The  presi 
dent  had  before  this  put  them  officially  in  possession 
of  the  fact  that  Burr's  whole  party  consisted  of  sixty 
unarmed  men,  and  that  these  were  dispersed  and  the 
expedition  broken  up.  ^Therefore,  any  tampering 
with  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  liabeas  corpus  could 
only  be  for  the  single  purpose  of  enabling  the  mili 
tary  authorities  to  hold  Aaron  Burr  a  prisoner~Tn\ 
despite  of  any  interference  by  the  civil  law  courts.  \ 

Under  these  circumstances  the  debate  in  con 
gress  turned  mainly  upon  the  unlawful  conduct  of 
Wilkinson  at  New  Orleans.  John  Randolph  said: 
u  I  trust  in  Ciod  that  no  such  ex  post  facto  provision 


c 


206  TERRORIZING   THE    PEOPLE. 

will  be  agreed  to  as  was  foisted  into  the  bill  which 
came  from  the  senate,  to  suspend  the  habeas  corpus, 
and  which  was  intended  in  a  side  way  to  cover  with 
a  mantle  the  most  daring  usurpation  which  ever  did, 
will,  or  can  happen,  in  this  or  any  other  country. 
There  was  exactly  as  much  right  to  xhoot  the  per 
sons  in  question  as  to  do  what  has  been  done." 

Again  Mr.  Randolph  says  :  "  Is  this  house  ready 
to  sanction  the  doctrine  that  an  open  and  avowed 
contempt  of  the  civil  by  the  military  authority  shall 
be  considered  as  nothing  more  than  a  common  vio 
lation  of  law?  A  refusal  to  r^g]ject_thejvrit  of  ha 
beas  cozpus  by  a  cwl -officer -ie~  a-- high  ^lisdemeanor. 
Much  more  is  it  a  misdemeanor  when  committed  by 
a  military  man,  and  more  especially  if  by  the  com- 
mander-in  chief  of  an  army.  With  regard  to  plots 
and  plotters,  conspiracies  and  conspirators,  I  am  not 
their  friend.  If  they  exist,  I  would  deal  with  them 
according  to  law ;  I  would  give  them  sheer  law  ; 
they  would  have  no  more  mercy  at  my  hands.  Do 
gentlemen,  however,  pretend  to  say  that  you  can  pro 
ceed  against  a  man  otherwise  than  according  to  law  ? 
I  stand  here  as  the  advocate  of  the  law.  Laying 
aside  the  question  of  guilt,  I  say  proceed  according 
to  law.  If  you  do  not  do  this,  you  may  first  incar 
cerate  a  man.  and  afterwards  summon  a  venire  to  try 
whether  the  act  is  justifiable.  It  is  said  dead  men 
tell  no  tales.  I  will  put  a  case :  I  will  suppose 
Aaron  Burr  a  conspirator  against  the  United  States, 


TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE.  207 

a  traitor.     Let  him  die.     If  so  I  would  hear  the  sen 
tence  pronounced  with  pleasure. 

"But  suppose  another  thing — suppose  a  con 
spiracy  has  been  going  on  for  several  years;  sup 
pose  a  person  has  been  for  several  years  concerned 
in  it,  and  to  cover  himself  from  suspicion  he  out- 
Herods  Herod,  and -because  his  weak  nerves  cannot 
endure  the  sight  of  a  traitor  he  stabs  him.  Is  this 
to  be  justified?  It  is  well  known  that  a  conspiracy 
to  separate  Kentucky  from  the  Union  is  no  new 
thing,  and  no  zeal  which  any  man  concerned  in  it 
may  now  manifest  can  throw  off  suspicion  from  his 
shoulders.'' 

Mr.  Eandolph  was  no  friend  to  Burr;  he  was  the  , 
foreman  of  the  grand  jury  which  indicted  him,  but 
he  tells  a  fact  here  it  is  well  to  know,  in  considering 
Burr's  prosecutions.  [~Tt  is  known  and  was  admitted 
at  Eichmond  that  the  whole  case  against  Burr  de 
pended  upon  Wilkinson's  testimony.  Mr.  Wirtsaid, 
his  testimony  "is  the  keystone  which  binds  the  great 
arch  of  evidence  now  in  our  possession.'']  Nothing 
could  be  done  until  this  witness  arrived,  and  the 
grand  jury  was  idle  for  nearly  a  month  waiting  for 
him.  His  zeal  was  wonderful;  to  procure  evidence 
to  convict  Burr  he  defied  the  law,  violated  the  con 
stitution  and  disregarded  everything  like  decency  or 
propriety.  Why  all  this?  Mr.  Randolph  tells.  It 
was  to  "cover  himself  from  suspicion,"  to  protect 
himself  from  prosecution,  for  crimes  more  infamous 


208  TERRORIZING  i    THE   PEOPLE. 

than  any  alleged  against  Burr.  It  was  known,  and 
the  proof  was  in  Mr.  Randolph's  possession,  that 
Wilkinson  had  for  many  years  been  the  head  of  a 
conspiracy  to  separate  Kentucky  from  the  Union 
at  the  time  the  Spaniards  held  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi;  Spanish  money  was  paid  to  Wilkinson 
as  the  leader  of  this  conspiracy,  and  for  many  years 
he  was  a  stipendiary  of  Spain.  Randolph .  at  the 
succeeding  session  of  congress,  presented  the  proofs 
of  this  fact  to  congress,  and  after  full  discussion,  by 
a  vote  of  72  to  49,  congress  adopted  the  following 
resolution : 

"  JResolred,  That  the  president  of  the  United  States 
be  requested  to  cause  an  inquiry  to  be  instituted  into 
the  conduct  of  Brigadier- General  Wilkinson,  com- 
mander-in  chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States, 
in  relation  to  his  having,  at  any  time,  while  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  corruptly  received 
money  from  the  government  of  Spain  or  its  agents." 

The  large  majority  by  which  this  resolution  was 
adopted  by  the  house  of  representatives,  shows  that 
body  was  well  convinced  that  Wilkinson  was  guilty 
of  the  crime  imputed  to  him.  As  it  was  admitted 
by  the  prosecution  that  the  whole  case  against  Burr, 
on  his  trial  at  Richmond,  depended  on  the  testimony 
of  this  witness,  we  will  be  pardoned  for  giving  at 
some  length  the  evidences  of  his  unworthiness.  And 
we  will  give  mainly  the  same  facts  upon  which  the 
members  of  congress  based  their  belief  of  his  guilt. 


TERRORI/INU   THE   PEOPLE.  209 

All   we  give  and  much   more  will  be   found   in   the 
annals  of  congress  for  the  session  of  1807  and  1808. 

First,  we  give  the  main  portion  of  a  letter  writ 
ten  in  cipher,  by  Wilkinson  to  Don  Gayoso,  the 
Spanish  governor  at  Natchex,  afterward  governor  of 
Louisiana  : 

FORT  WASHINGTON,  Sept.  22,  1796. 

What  political  crisis  is  the  present,  and  how 
deeply  interesting  in  its  probable  results,  in  all  its 
tendencies,  *  *  *  #  and  thereby  must  hope  it 
may  not  be  carried  into  execution.  If  it  is,  an  entire 
reform  in  the  police  and  military  establishments  of 
Louisiana  will  be  found  immediately  indispensable 
to  the  security  of  the  Mexican  provinces.  I  beg  you 
to  write  me  fully  on  this  question,  in  cipher,  by 
Power,  whose  presence  in  Philadelphia  is  necessary, 
as  well  to  clear  his  own  character,  attacked  by 
Wayne,  as  to  support  the  fact  of  the  outrage  re 
cently  offered  to  the  Spanish  crown  in  his  person, 
and  to  bring  me  either  the  person  or  the  deposition 
of  a  man  now  under  your  command,  who  had  been 
suborned  by  Wayne  to  bear  false  witness  against  me, 
and  afterwards,  for  fear  he  should  recant,  bribed  him 
to  leave  Kentucky.  Power  will  give  you  the  perfect 
of  this  infamous  transaction,  and  I  conjure  you  by 
all  the  ties  of  friendship  and  of  policy,  to  assist  him 
on  this  occasion.  If  Spain  does  not  resent  the  out 
rage  offered  to  Power  in  the  face  of  all  Kentucky 
*  *  *  My  letter  to  the  Baron  will  explain  the 


210  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

motives  which  carry  me  to  Philadelphia,  from  thence 
I  will  write  again  to  you.  Power  will  explain  to 
you  circumstances  which  justify  the  belief  of  the 
great  treachery  that  has  been  practiced  with  respect 
to  the  money  lately  sent  me.  For  the  love  of  God  and 
friendship,  enjoin  great  secrecy  and  caution  in  all  our 
concerns.  Never  suffer  my  name  to  be  written  or  spoken. 
THE  SUSPICION  OF  WASHINGTON  is  WIDE  AWAKE.  Be 
ware  of  Bradford,  the  Fort  Pitt  refugee  —  he  seeks 
to  make  peace  —  there  arc  spies  everywhere.  We 
have  a  report  here  that  you  are  appointed  governor 
of  Louisiana.  Clod  grant  it,  as  I  presume  the  Baron 
will  be  promoted.  I  am  your  affectionate  friend. 

W. 

Certified  as  received  February  6,  1797. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Randolph  presented  his  resolu 
tion  Mr.  Daniel  Clark  was  the  delegate  in  congress 
from  Orleans  territory.  As  he  had  for  many  years 
been  a  subject  of  the  Spanish  government,  and  fa 
miliar  with  that  government's  transactions  with 
Wilkinson,  he  was  requested  by  resolution  of  the 
house  to  make  a  statement  of  what  he  knew  about 
them.  Mr.  Clark  complied  with  this  request  by  pre 
senting  a  statement  under  oath  as  follows : 

"  In  obedience  to  the  direction  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  expressed  in  their  resolution  of  Fri 
day  last,  I  submit  the  following  statement: 

"  I  arrived  from  Europe  at  New  Orleans  in  De 
cember,  1786,  having  been  invited  to  the  country  by 


TERRORIZING  THE   PEOPLE.  211 

an  uncle  of  considerable  wealth  and  influence,  who 
had  been  long  resident  in  that  city.  Shortly  after 
my  arrival,  I  was  employed  in  the  office  of  the  sec 
retary  of  the  government  —  this  office  was  the  de 
pository  of  all  state  papers.  In  1787  General  Wil 
kinson  made  his  first  visit  to  New  Orleans,  and  was 
introduced  by  my  uncle  to  the  governors  and  other 
officers  of  the  Spanish  government. 

"In  1788  much  sensation  was  excited  by  the  re 
port  of  his  having  entered  into  some  arrangements 
with  the  government  of  Louisiana  to  separate  the 
western  country  from  the  United  States,  and  this  re 
port  acquired  great  credit  upon  his  second  visit  to 
New  Orleans  in  1789.  About  this  time  I  saw  a  let 
ter  from  the  General  to  ti  person  in  New  Orleans. 
giving  an  account  of  Colonel  Connolly's  mission  to 
him  from  the  British  government  in  Canada,  and  of 
proposals  made  to  him  on  the  part  of  that  govern 
ment,  and  mentioned  his  determination  of  adhering 
to  his  connection  with  the  Spaniards. 

"  My  intimacy  with  the  officers  of  the  Spanish 
government,  and  my  access  to  official  information, 
disclosed  to  me  shortly  afterwards  some  of  the  plans 
the  General  had  proposed  to  the  government  for  ef- 
fectingthe  contemplated  separation.  The  general  pro 
ject  was,  the  severance  of  the  western  country  from 
the  tfnited  States,  and  the  establishment  of  a  separate 
government  in  the  alliance  and  under  the  protection 
of  Spain.  In  effecting  this,  Spain  was  to  furnish 


212  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

• 

money  and  arms,  and  the  minds  of  the  western  peo 
ple  were  to  be  seduced  and  brought  over  to  the  pro 
ject  by  liberal  advantages  resulting  from  it,  to  be 
held  out  by  Spain.  The  trade  of  the  Mississippi  was 
to  be  rendered  free,  the  ports  of  New  Orleans  to  be 
opened  to  them,  and  a  free  commerce  allowed  in  the 
productions  of  the  new  government  with  Spain  and 
her  West  India  islands. 

UI  remember  about  the  same  time  to  have  seen  a 
list  of  names  of  citizens  of  the  western  country 
which  was  in  the  handwriting  of  the  General,  who 
were  recommended  for  pensions,  and  the  sums  were 
stated  proper  to  be  paid  to  each  ;  and  I  then  dis 
tinctly  understood  that  he  and  others  were  actually 
pensioners  of  the  Spanish  government. 

"I  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  money  being 
paid  to  General  Wilkinson,  or  to  any  agent  for  him. 
on  account  of  his  pension,  previously  to  the  year 
1793  or  1794.  In  one  of  these  years,  and  in  which 
I  cannot  be  certain  until  I  can  consult  my  books,  a 
Mr.  La  Cassagne,  who  I  understood  was  postmaster 
at  the  Falls  of  Ohio,  came  to  New  Orleans,  and,  as 
one  of  the  association  with  General  Wilkinson,  in 
the  project  of  dismemberment,  received  a  sum  of 
money,  four  thousand  dollars  of  which,  or  there 
about,  were  embarked  by  a  special  permission,  free 
of  duty,  on  board  a  vessel  which  had  been  consigned 
to  me,  and  which  sailed  for  Philadelphia,  in  which 
vessel  Mr.  La  Cassagne  went  passenger.  At  and 


TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE.  213 

prior  to  this  period  I  had  various  opportunities  of 
seeing  the  projects  submitted  to  the  Spanish  govern 
ment,  and  learning  many  of  the  details  from  the 
agents  employed  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

uln  1794  two  gentlemen  of  the  name  of  Owens 
and  Collins,  friends  and  agents  of  General  Wilkin 
son,  came  to  New  Orleans.  To  the  first  was  in 
trusted,  as  I  was  particularly  informed  by  the  officers 
of  the  Spanish  government,  the  sum  of  six  thousand 
dollars,  to  be  delivered  to  General  Wilkinson  on  ac 
count  of  his  own  pension  and  that  of  others.  On 
his  way,  in  returning  to  Kentucky.  Owens  was  mur 
dered  by  his  boat's  crew,  and  the  money,  it  was  un 
derstood,  was  made  way  with  by  them.  This  occur 
rence  occasioned  considerable  noise  in  Kentucky, 
and  contributed,  with  Mr.  Power's  visit  at  a  subse 
quent  period,  to  awaken  the  suspicion  of  General 
Wayne,  who  took  measures  to  intercept  the  corre 
spondence  of  General  Wilkinson  with  the  Spanish 
government,  which  were  not  attended  with  success. 

"  Collins,  the  co-agent  with  Owens,  first  attempted 
to  fit  out  a  small  vessel  in  the  port  of  New  Orleans, 
in  order  to  proceed  to  some  port  in  the  Atlantic 
states:  but  she  was  destroyed  by  the  hurricane  of 
the  month  of  August  of  1794.  He  then  fitted  out  a 
small  vessel  in  the  Bayou  St.  John,  and  shipped  in 
her  at  least  eleven  thousand  dollars,  which  he  took 
round  to  Charleston. 

"This  shipment  was  made  under  such   peculiar 


214  TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE. 

circumstances  that  it  became  known  to  many,  and 
the  destination  of  it  was  afterwards  fully  disclosed  to 
me  by  the  officers  of  the  Spanish  government,  by 
Collins,  and  by  General  Wilkinson  himself,  who  com 
plained  that  Collins,  instead  of  sending  him  the 
money  on  his  arrival,  had  employed  it  in  some  wild 
speculations  to  the  West  Indies,  by  which  he  had 
lost  a  considerable  sum,  and  that  in  consequence  of 
the  mismanagement  of  his  agents  he  had  derived  but 
little  advantage  from  the  money  paid  on  his  account 
by  the  government. 

"  Mr.  Power,  as  he  afterward  informed  me,  on  his 
tour  through  the  western  country,  saw  General  Wil 
kinson  at  Greenville,  and  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter 
to  him  for  the  secretary  of  the  government  of  Lou 
isiana,  dated  the  7th  or  8th  of  March,  1796,  advising 
that  a  sum  of  money  had  been  sent  to  Don  Thomas 
Portell,  commandant  at  New  Madrid,  to  be  delivered 
to  his  order.  This  money  Mr.  Power  delivered  to 
Mr.  Nolan,  by  Wilkinson's  directions.  What  con 
cerned  Mr.  Nolan's  agency  in  this  business  I  learned 
from  himself,  when  he  afterwards  visited  New  Or 
leans. 

"In  1797  Power  was  intrusted  with  another  mis 
sion  to  Kentucky,  and  had  directions  to  propose  cer 
tain  plans  to  effect  the  separation  of  the  western 
country  from  the  United  States.  These  plans  were 
proposed  and  rejected,  as  he  often  solemnly  assured 
me,  through  the  means  of  a  Mr.  George  Nicholas,  to 


TERRORIZING   THE   PEOPLE.  215 

whom,  among  others,  they  were  communicated,  who 
spurned  the  idea  of  receiving  foreign  money.  Power 
then  proceeded  to  Detroit  to  see  General  Wilkinson, 
and  was  sent  back  by  him,  under  guard,  to  New 
Madrid,  from  whence  he  returned  to  New  Orleans. 
Power's  secret  instructions  were  known  to  me  after 
wards,  and  I  am  enabled  to  state  that  the  plan  con 
templated  entirely  failed. 

"In  the  month  of  October,  1798,  I  visited  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson,  by  his  particular  request,  at  his  camp 
at  Loftus'  Heights,  where  he  had  shortly  before  ar 
rived.  The  General  had  heard  of  remarks  made  by 
me  on  the  subject  of  his  pension,  which  had  ren 
dered  him  uneasy,  and  he  was  desirous  of  making 
some  arrangements  with  me  on  the  subject.  I  passed 
three  days  and  nights  in  the  General's  tent.  The 
chief  subjects  of  our  conversation  were  the  views 
and  enterprises  of  the  Spanish  government  in  re 
lation  to  the  United  States,  and  speculations  as  to  the 
result  of  political  affairs.  In  the  course  of  our  con 
versation  he  stated  that  there  was  still  a  balance 
of  ten  thousand  dollars  due  him  from  the  Spanish 
government,  for  which  he  wonld  gladly  fTk^  in 
ej££hange  Governor  Gayoso's  plantation,  near  the 
Natchez,  who  might  reimburse  himself  from  the 
treasury  at  New  Orleans.  I  a«ked  the  general 
whether  this  sum  was  due  on  the  old  business  of  the 
pension.  He  replied  that  it  was.  and  intimated  a 
wish  that  I  should  propose  to  Governor  Gayoso  a 


216  TERRORIZING  THE   PEOPLE. 

transfer  of  his  plantation  for  the  money  due  him 
from  the  Spanish  treasury.  The  whole  affair  had 
always  been  odious  to  me,  and  I  declined  any  agency 
in  it.  I  acknowledged  to  him  that  I  had  often 
spoken  freely  and  publicly  of  his  Spanish  pension, 
but  I  told  him  I  had  communicated  nothing  to  his 
government  on  the  subject.  I  advised  him  to  drop 
his  Spanish  connection.  He  justified  it  heretofore 
from  the  peculiar  situation  of  Kentucky;  the  dis 
advantages  the  country  labored  under  at  the  period 
when  he  formed  his  connection  with  the  Spaniards, 
the  doubtful  and  distracted  state  of  the  Union  at 
that  time,  which  he  represented  as  bound  together 
by  nothing  better  than  a  rope  of  sand.  And  he  as 
sured  me  solemnly  that  he  had  terminated  his  con 
nections  with  the  Spanish  government,  and  that  it 
should  never  be  renewed. 

"This  summary  necessarily  omits  many  details 
tending  to  corroborate  and  illustrate  the  facts  an,d 
opinions  I  have  stated.  Xo  allusion  has  been  had  to 
the  public  explanations  of  the  transactions  referred 
to  made  by  General  Wilkinson  and  his  friends.  So 
far  as  they  are  resolved  into  commercial  enterprises 
and  speculations,  I  had  the  best  opportunity  of  being 
acquainted  with  them,  as  I  was,  during  the  time  re 
ferred  to,  the  agent  of  the  house  who  were  consign 
ees  of  the  General  at  Xew  Orleans,  and  who  had  an 
interest  in  his  shipments,  and  whose  books  are  in  my 
possession.  DANIEL  CLARK. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  .Ian.  11,  1808." 


TERRORIZING    THE    PEOPLE.  217 

This  is  attested  as  having  been  sworn  to  before 
William  Cranch,  chief  judge  of  the  circuit  court  of 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

Other  evidence  is  presented  and  the  whole  sub 
ject  fully  discussed  by  congress,  commencing  on  "De 
cember  31,  1807. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  knowledge  of  this  criminal  and 
treasonable  conduct  on  the  part  of  C4eneral  Wilkin 
son  dates  from  about  March  1,  1802.  He  fixes  the 
date  himself,  in  a  communication  to  congress,  dated 
January  20,  1808.  He  says,  in  referring  to  these 
charges  against  \Vilkinson:  "About  a  twelvemonth 
after  I  came  to  the  administration  of  the  govern 
ment,  Mr.  Clark  gave  some  verbal  information  to 
myself,  as  well  as  to  the  secretary  of  state,  relating 
to  the  same  combinations  for  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Tnion.  lie  was  listened  to  freely:  and  he  then 
delivered  the  letter  of  Governor  Clayoso,  addressed 
to  himself,  of  which  a  copy  is  now  communicated. 
After  his  return  to  New  Orleans,  he  forwarded  to 
the  secretary  of  state  other  papers,  with  a  request 
that,  after  perusal,  they  be  burnt.  This,  however, 
was  not  done,  and  he  was  so  informed,  and  that  they 
would  be  held  subject  to  his  orders.''  Jt  was  with 
this  _k  now  ledge  of  the  infamous  character  of  Wilkin 
son  that  Jefferson  indorsed  hur.  as  nn  honorable  sol 
dier  and  a  irood  citizen. 


CHAPTER  X. 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 


The  Navy  Department's  Order  —  The  Expedition  Arrested  —  Grand  Jury 
Refuses  an  Indictment  — The  Reason  Why  — The  Scheme  to  Liber 
ate  South  America  —  Burr's  Project  —  Letter  to  Smith  —  Jackson  and 
Adair  —  Jefferson  on  Newspapers. 


Accompanying  the  proclamation  of  the  U7th  of 
November,  the  president  sent  out  orders  to  all  mili 
tary  and  civil  officers  to  arrest  any  and  all  persons 
engaged  in  the  supposed  illegal  conspiracy  againbt 
the  peace  of  the  country.  But  before  the  proclama 
tion  and  the  orders  had  reached  the  western  country, 
Burr  and  his  mrty  had  quietly  passed  down  to  the 
Mississippi.  (Re  had  ten  boats  loaded  with  imple 
ments  of  husbandry,  and  they  were  manned  by 
sixty  unarmed  men\  They  did  not  seem  to  be  a 
dangerous  party,  anct  the  peace  of  the  country  or 
the  lives  of  the  people  did  not  seem  to  be  seriously 
threatened.  There  was  not  a  county  bordering  the 
river  down  which  they  floated  that  could  not  have 
furnished  a  militia  company  capable  of  arresting 
and  holding  as  prisoners  the  entire  party.  But  Jcf- 

(218) 


V   REAL   INTENTIONS.  219 

ferson  called  upon  all  the  governors  and  all  the  mil 
itia  in  all  the  states  on  or  near  the  western  waters, 
to  arrest  this  phantom.  Even  the  naval  officers  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  were  cautioned  to  be  on 
their  guard  and  not  permit  it  to  take  them  by  sur 
prise. 

The  following  is  the  order  issued  by  the  secretary 
of  the  navy : 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  20th  December,  1806. 

SIR:  —  A  military  expedition  formed  on  the  west 
ern  waters,  by  Colonel  Burr,  will  soon  proceed  down 
the  Mississippi,  and  by  the  time  you  receive  this 
letter  Tvill  probably  be  near  New  Orleans.  You 
will,  by  all  the  means  in  your  power,  aid  the  army 
and  militia  in  suppressing  this  enterprise.  You  will 
with  your  boats  take  the  best  position  to  intercept 
and  to  take,  and,  if  necessary,  to  destroy  the  boats 
descending  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Burr,  or 
of  any  person  holding  an  appointment  under  him. 
There  is  great  reliance  on  your  vigilance  and  exer 
tions. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

Your  most  obedient, 
CAPT.  JOHN  SHAW.  ET.  SMITH. 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  in 
favor  of  maintaining  a  navy,  but  fortunately  the 
men-of-war,  then  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
were  thought  to  be  sufficient  to  successfully  meet 
the  expedition  on  its  wa}' down  the  river,  even  with- 


220  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

out  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  gunboats.  Still 
it  was  a  hazardous  work  assigned  to  Captain  Shaw, 
for  had  he  really  encountered  Burr's  fleet  his  war 
ship  might  have  been  "rammed"  to  the  bottom  of 
the  Mississippi  by  the  "pushing  poles"  of  Burr's 
crews. 

In  pursuance  of  these  orders  Burr  and  his  party 
were  stopped  and  arrested  at  Bayou  Pierre,  in  the 
then  Mississippi  territory.  Court  was  called,  a  grand 
jury  empaneled,  and  an  indictment  demanded.  But 
instead  of  an  indictment  the  grand  jury  made  re 
turn  that  no  crime  was  shown  to  have  been  com 
mitted  or  contemplated  by  Burr. 

The  return  of  the  grand  jury  was  as  follows: 
"  The  grand  jury  of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  on  a 
due  investigation  of  the  evidence  brought  before 
them,  are  of  opinion  that  Aaron  Burr  has  not  been 
guilty  of  any  crime  or  misdemeanor  against  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  this  territory;  or  given 
any  just  cause  of  alarm  or  inquietude  to  the  good 
people  of  the  same. 

"  The  grand  jurors_jyc£sent,  a&-ft  grievance,  the 
late  military  expedition,  unnecessarily,  as  they  con 
ceive,  fitted  out  against  the  person  and  property  of 
the  said  Aaron  Burr,  when  no  resistance  had  been 
made  to  the  civil  authorities. 

"  The  grand  jurorjjjUs^_,;pij}8eiTt~-ft&-&.  grievance, 
destructive__oXj)er80Dal  liberty,  the  late  military  ar 
rests,  made  without  warrant,  and,  as  they  conceive, 


BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS.  221 

without  lawful  authority  ;  and  they  do  sincerely  re 
gret  that  so  much  cause  has  been  given  to  the  enemies 
of  our  glorious  constitution,  to  rejoice  at  such  meas 
ures  being  adopted  in  a  neighboring  territory,  as,  if 
sanctioned  by  the  executive  of  our  country,  must 
sap  the  vitals  of  our  political  existence,  and  crumble 
this  glorious  fabric  in  the  dust." 

The  presentation  of  this  grand  jury  was  conclu 
sive.  The  jury  had  all  the  facts  before  them  to  en 
able  them  to  decide  the  character  of  Burr's  expedi 
tion.  \_There  were  ten  of  the  ordinary  river  boats 
used  for  light  transportation ;  these  were  laden  with 
provisions  and  the  usual  articles  carried  by  an  emi 
grating  party,  and  there  were  no  arms,  ammunition  or 
military  stores  of  any  kind  on  board,  and  the  entire 
party  consisted  of  sixty  unarmed  men.  Could  a 
grand  jury  or  any  body  of  sensible  men  have  im 
agined  that  this  was  an  expedition  on  its  way  to  cap 
ture  a  city  of  nine  thousand  people,  protected  by  a 
thousand  regular  United  States  soldiers?  Not  only 
to  capture  the  city,  bat  to  despoil  it  of  its  wealth, 
and  then  march  on  to  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  On 
such  evidence  could  the  grand  jury  have  honestly 
given  any  other  verdict  than  the  one  they  gave? 
Nor  is  it  strange  they  presented  the  action  of  the 
military  authorities,  who  made  the  arrest,  as  "a 
grievance,  destructive  of  personal  liberty, "  and 
"  without  lawful  authority." 

But  the  military  authorities  were  not  acting  upon 


222  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

their  own  judgment;  they  knew  as  well  as  the  grand 
jury  did,  and  as  well  as  the  great  body  of  the  people 
of  the  community  did,  that  there  was  no  lawful  rea 
son  tor  the  arrest  of  Burr  and  his  party.  But  they 
were  acting  under  the  command  of  a  power  they  dare 
not  disobey ;  the  president  had  ordered  the  arrest  of 
\  Burr  and  the  confiscation  of  his  property,  and  not  to 
await  the  conviction  of  Burr,  but  to  do  the  work  at 
once.  For  this  great  wrong  the  president  alone  was 
guilty.  The  people  of  the  country  in  which  this 
outrage  was  perpetrated  in  every  way  possible  re 
sented  it.  They  treated  Burr's  men,  who  had  thus 
been  robbed  of  all  they  possessed,  with  the  greatest 
kindness,  providing  for  their  immediate  wants  and 
expressing  much  solicitude  for  their  personal  wel 
fare. 

Jefferson  felt  keenly  the  ridiculous  position  he 
occupied.  lie  had  denounced  the  government  of 
Washington  for  making  itself  ridiculous,  as  he  said, 
tor  calling  out  the  army  to  put  down  the  Whisky 
Insurrection  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  a  large  body 
of  armed  men;  now  he  had  made  himself  a  hun 
dred  times  more  ridiculous  in  calling  on  not  only 
the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  but  all  the 
militia  of  all  the  western  states  and  territories,  to 

/ 

arrest  a  party  of  sixty  unarmed  emigrants,  quietly 
on  their  way  to  settle  upon  lands  purchased  in  a 
neighboring  country.  And  when  this  party  had 
been  arrested  and  held  as  prisoners,  by  a  single 


BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS.  223 

•.•ompanj*  of  untrained  militia,  in  the  Mississippi  ter 
ritory,  hundreds  of  miles  above  Xew  Orleans,  and  a 
grand  jury  had  declared  all  of  them  innocent  of  any 
unlawful  intention,  the  efforts  the  president  had 
made  to  frighten  the  country  were  presented  in  so 
ridiculous  a  light  he  became  almost  frantic  with 
passion. 

He  had  gone  too  far  to  escape  the  ridicule  he 
dreaded,  unless  at  least  one  victim  could  be  secured. 
If  the  expedition  was  a  treasonable  one,  of  course  all 
engaged  in  it  were  traitors:  but  after  confiscating 
and  destoying  all  their  personal  property.  Burr's 
men  were  all  turned  adrift  and  Burr  alone  held  for 
trial.  Afterwards.  Blennerhtwsett.  Tyler,  and  one  or 
two  others  of  the  party,  were  indicted  and  arrested, 
but  only  for  effect  against  Burr;  they  never  were 
prosecute^!  Jefferson  s  amazing  credulity  may  have 
causecTTrim  to  believe  that  he  could  convict  Burr 
on  the  clamor  and  prejudice  he  had  created,  but  no 
man  of  common  understanding  could  for  a  moment 
believe  that  Burr  was  guilty  of  the  crimes  alleged 
against  him,  and  for  which  he  was  now  arrested  and 
placed  upon  trial.  His  party  of  sixty  men  had  been 
arrested,  his  boats  with  their  lading  had  been  de 
stroyed,  by  an  untrained  militia  company.  This  was  \ 
the  whole  force  of  the  expedition.  Jefferson  charged 
that  with  this  force  Burr  was  on  his  way  to  capture  \ 
Newr  Orleans,  and  then  to  proceed  to  invade  Mexico.  \ 
Thjs^is  precisely  what  was  charged  in  the  indict- 


224  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

ments  against  Burr,  us  explained  at  length  by  the 
district  attorney  at  the  trial.  What  then  did  .Jeffer 
son  charge  that  Burr  was  about  to  do?  With  sixty 
unarmed  men -he  was  proceeding  to  capture  by  force 
of  arms  a  city  of  nine  thousand  people,  protected  by 
one  -thousand  trained  United  States  soldiers,  with 
fortifications,  cannon  and  arms  and  ammunition  in 
abundance.  Did  the  president  believe  Burr  was  in 
tending  to  do  these  things  ?  If  he  did,  has  he  a  living 
friend  to-day  who  does  not  blush  at  his  credulity? 
If  he  were  sincere,  if  he  did  really  believe  that  Burr 
proposed  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  the  sub 
jugation  of  Mexico,  with  the  force  under  his  com 
mand,  without  arms,  without  any  of  the  usual  means 
of  warfare,  it  would  be  a  mercy  to  believe  him  de 
mented.  But  he  was  not  sincere;  he  did  not  believe 
it.  But  what  is  more  wonderful  than  all  else  con 
nected  with  this  wonderful  story  is  that,  while  he  did 
not  believe  these  charges  against  Burr,  he  made  a 
whole  nation  of  people  believe  them,  and  cling  to 
the  belief  for  a  hundred  years. 

It  may  be  as  well  here  as  elsewhere  to  give  a 
full  statement  of  Burr's  intentions  first  and  last.  In 
doing  so,  it  will  be  necessary  to  recall  some  occur 
rences,  which  first  suggested  to  his  mind  one  of  the 
schemes  he  afterward  became  deeply  interested  in 
and  for  years  waited  an  opportunity  to  accomplish. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  project  was  pro- 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS.  225 

posed  to  revolutionize  the  South  American  provinces 
of  Spain.  The  scheme  originated  with  Francisco  de 
Miranda,  a  native  South  American,  able,  plausible 
and  indefatigable  in  urging  his  plans  for  many  years. 
He  strove  to  interest  both  the  governments  of  Great 
BritatiT'and  of  the  United  States  in  his  project, 
which  he  termed  the  "  liberation  of  South  America." 
He  succeeded  in  securing  promises  of  assistance  from 
Great  Britain,  but  he  failed  to  receive  favor  from 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  He  was  more 
successful  with  some  of  the  prominent  men  of  this 
country.  Alexander  Hamilton  espoused  his  cause 
with  great  ardor,  and  became  his  active  partisan. 
Rufus  King,  General  Knox,  and  other  leaders  of  the 
Federal  party,  friends  of  Hamilton,  were  also  active 
supporters  of  Miranda. 

England  had  agreed  to  furnish  a  naval  force  suffi 
cient  for  the  purposes  of  the  expedition,  and  a  cer 
tain  number  of  troops  .for  inland  operations.  But 
the  latter  were  not  as  many  as  Miranda  required, 
and  to  secure  more  he  came  to  the  United  States. 
In  taking  charge  of  the  scheme  in  this  country, 
Hamilton  stipulated  that  Great  Britain  should  pro 
vide  only  .the  naval  forces,  and  he  would  furnish  the 
whole  of  the  land  forces  required.  This  change  of 
plan  Miranda  was  able  to  bring  about  without  trouble. 
On  the  19th  of  October,  1798,  he  writes  to  Hamilton 
from  London,  and  says:  ;i  Your  wishes  are  in  some 
sort  already  accomplished,  seeing  it  has  been  agreed 


226  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

here  on  one  side  not  to  employ  in  the  operations  on 
land  English  troops  ;  seeing  that  the  auxiliary  land 
forces  are  to  be  exclusively  American,  while  the 
naval  force  shall  be  purely  English.  Everything  is 
smooth,  and  we  wait  only  for  the  fiat  of  your  illus 
trious  president  to  depart  like  lightning."  With  the 
view  of  securing  the  "fiat"  of  our  president,  Miranda 
addressed  a  dispatch  to  President  Adams,  by  a  mes 
senger,  who  also  carried  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
Hamilton,  in  which  he  says :  "  This  will  be  delivered 
to  you,  my  dear  and  respectable  friend,  by  my  com 
patriot,  Don  -  — ,  charged  with  dispatches  of  the 
highest  importance  for  the  president  of  the  United 
States;  he  will  inform  you  confidentially  what  you 
desire  to  learn  on  this  subject." 

Mr.  Adams  was  then  at  his  home  in  Massachu 
setts;  the  dispatches  were  received  by  the  secretary 
of  state,  and  by  him  forwarded  to  the  president. 
Mr.  Adams  was  not  in  the  confidence  of  Miranda  or 
Hamilton;  neither  had  before  consulted  him.  He 
did  not.  therefore,  know  of  the  grand  scheme  of  con 
quest  and  revolution  they  had  planned.  He  wrote 
to  the  secretary  of  state,  saying:  "  We  are  friends 
with  Spain  ;  if  we  were  enemies  would  the  project 
be  useful  to  us?  It  will  not  be  in  character  for  me 
to  answer  the  letter.  Will  any  notice  of  it,  in  any 
manner.be  proper?"  The  secretary  made  no  re 
sponse,  and  no  further  effort  was  made  to  secure  the 
president's  approval,  and  he  heard  no  more  from  it. 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS.  227 

Great  Britain  was  then  at  war  with  France,  and 
Spain  was  France's  ally.  This  would  justify  the 
British  government  in  the  proposed  attack  upon  the 
Spanish  provinces ;  but  the  United  States  was  at 
peace  with  both  France  and  Spain,  though  threat 
ened  with  an  attack  from  France. 

Hamilton  had  by  a  series  of  well  executed  in 
trigues  succeeded  in  placing  himself  substantially  at 
the  head  of  the  army,  and  was  pressing  for  a  large 
increase  of  the  army,  on  the  pretext  that  France 
was  about  to  attack  us.  Then  in  the  command  of 
the  army,  he  proposed  to  take  a  portion  or  all  of  it, 
under  his  personal  command,  to  the  conquest  of  the 
Spanish  colonies  in  South  America.  In  August, 
1798,  before  the  president  had  been  approached  upon 
this  subject,  or  had  heard  of  it.  Hamilton's  plans  had 
been  matured.  At  this  date  he  had  written  to  Kufus 
King,  American  minister  to  Great  Britain,  and  said: 
"  With  regard  to  the  enterprise  in  question,  I  wish 
it  much  to  be  undertaken,  but  I  should  be  glad  that 
the  principal  agency  was  in  the  United  States,  they 
to  furnish  the  whole  land  force  necessary.  The 
command  in  this  case  would  very  naturally  fall  upon 
me;  and  I  hope  I  should  disappoint  no  favorable^ 
anticipations.  The  independency  of  the  separated  \ 
territory,  under  a  moderate  government,  with- the 
joint  guarantee  of  the  cooperating  powers,  stipulating 
equal^  privileges  in  commerce,  would  be  the  sum  of 
the  results  to  be  accomplished/' 


228  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

At  the  same  time  that  Hamilton  writes  thus  to 
King,  he  writes  to  Miranda:  "The  plan,  in  my 
opinion,  ought  to  be  —  a  fleet  of  Great  Britain,  an 
army  of  the  United  States,  a  government  for  the  lib 
erated  territory  agreeable  to  both  the  cooperators, 
about  which  there  will  be  no  difficulty.  To  arrange 
a  plan,  a  competent  authority  from  Great  Britain  to 
some  person  here  is  the  best  expedient.  Your  pres 
ence  here  in  this  case  will  be  extremely  essential. 
We  are  raising  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men. 
General  Washington  has  resumed  his  station  at  the 
head  of  our  army.  1  am  appointed  second  in  com 
mand."  The  whole  correspondence  is  greatly  ex 
tended.  We  cannot  give  more  of  H  in  this  work, 
but  it  is  all  of  the  same  character.  \Hamilton  wants 
all  the  land  fighting  to  be  done  by  JtTnerican  troops, 
under  his  personal  command.  It  was  so  arranged. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  Hamilton  had  engaged  in  this 
scheme  without  the  knowledge  of  the  president  and 
without  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  an  individual  adventure,  in  which  he 
intended  to  use  the  army  of  the  United  States  solely 
by  virtue  of  being  practically  the  commander-in- 
chief.  And  it  was  to  be  used  in  this  unlawful  man 
ner  against  a  nation  between  whieh^and  our  own 
country  peaceful  relations  were  existing.] 

That  Hamilton  had  great  expectations  of  glory 
'and  renown  from  the  successful  accomplishment  of 
this  enterprise,  is  told  us  by  his  son,  in  the  history 


BURR'S   REAL  INTENTIONS.  229 

of  the  Republic,  which  is  the  "  Life  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,"  by  John  C.  Hamilton.  In  Volume  7, 
217,  in  referring  to  this  subject  the  son  says: 
was  an  enterprise  worthy  the  best  aspirations 
of  humanity.  To  release  South  America  from  a  col 
onial  sway,  in  principle  and  in  practice  the  most 
oppressive  on  earth  —  to  enable  her  numerous  pop 
ulations  to  form  moderate  governments  suited  to 
their  condition  —  to  open  to  the  world  a  commerce 
of  vast  capacity,  enslaved  by  a  grasping  monopoly, 
to  remove  the  only  serious  external  danger  to  which 
the  American  Union  was  exposed  —  the  severance  of 
the  western  territory  —  thus  'to  cut,'  as  Hamilton 
expressed  it,  'the  Grordian  knot'  of  its  great  desti 
nies;  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  revolutionary 
doctrines  France  was  then  propagating  in  those  re 
gions,  and  to  unite  the  American  hemisphere  in  one 
great  society  of  common  interests  and  common  prin 
ciples  against  the  corruptions,  -the  vices,  the  new 
theories  of  Europe — these  were  objects  worthy  the 
energies  of  the  highest  genius.  Hamilton  felt  all  the 
importance  of  this  great  reformation.  He  believed 
in  its  easy  accomplishment.  Ten  thousand  men, 
stationed  at  rallying  points  for  the  oppressed  natives, 
was  all  the  force  he  would  have  required,  if  aided  by 
an  adequate  mari  ne.  With  such  a  force,  he  confidently 
hoped,  his  name  would  descend  to  a  grateful  pos 
terity  AS  THE  LIBERATOR  OF  SOTTH  AMERICA.'' 

Ho\v    insignificant    Burr's  "  visionary  "  schemes 


1>30  BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS. 

seem  beside  these  loftier  aspirations  of  Hamilton. 
Nor  did  Burr  ever  picture  to  his  mind  a  lovelier,  a 
grander  or  a  more  magnificent  country  in  which  to 
erect  his  imperial  throne  than  the  land  which  Ham 
ilton  proposed  to  free  from  all  oppression,  all  corrup 
tion,  all  vice  and  all  unhappiness,  and  where  his 
name  should  be  reverenced  through  the  coming 
ages  by  a  grateful  posterity.  His  son  presents  us 
the  picture  in  words  as  warm  and  glowing  as  the 
land  he  describes.  He  says:  "Hamilton  had  alt^o 
been  raised  to  a  high  military  command.  The  enter 
prise  which  he  had  long  beheld  at  a  distance  in  its 
mighty  bearing  now  assumed  a  new  and  direct  im 
portance.  Regions  the  most  beautiful  on  earth  ;  half 
a  continent,  whose  summits,  in  successive  grandeur, 
touched  the  skies ;  whose  feet  bathed  in  two  mighty 
oceans ;  over  whose  bosom  unceasing  summers  shed 
their  fragrant  luxuriance,  wafted  to  the  ocean  by 
rivers  of  unparalleled  magnificence ;  while  beneath 
unexhausted  ores  in  massive  piles,  and  fields  of  jew 
eled  wealth — to  be  rescued  from  bondage  and  made 
the  abode  of  the  virtuous  joys  of  regulated  freedom." 

It  was  a  wonderful  world  of  beauty  and  wealth 
that  Hamilton  wished  to  fight  for,  to  conquer  and 
enjoy;  but  Adams,  to  the  disgust  of  his  cabinet,  and 
Hamilton  their  master,  made  peace  with  France, 
No  war  with  France,  no  army  could  be  raised,  and 
therefore  no  conquest  of  South  America. 

We  may  here  say,  parenthetically,  that  this  act 


BURR'S   REAL  INTENTIONS.  231 

of  John  Adams,  in  making  peace  with  France,  con 
trary  to  the  advice  of  his  cabinet,  was  fraught  with 
greater  consequences  and  resulted  in  greater  benefit 
to  the  country  than  any  other  executive  act  in  the 
first  half  century  of  the  government.  In  establish 
ing  peace  with  France  at  that  time,  he  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  friendship  with  that  country  which 
secured  for  us,  within  four  years,  the  magnificent 
domain  of  Louisiana.  Had  this  not  been  done,  and 
had  Hamilton's  effort  to  force  a  war  with  France 
been  successful,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us 
ever  to  have  acquired  that  immense  territory.  Had 
we  been  at  war  with  France,  Napoleon  would  not 
have  sold  us  Louisiana,  and  it  would  unquestionably 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  from  whom 
we  could  never  have  obtained  it.  In  such  event  our 
western  boundary  would  to-day  be  the  Mississippi 
river.  For  making  this  peace  John  Adams  was 
more  severely  censured  than  for  any  other  act  of  his 
life,  and  yet  it  was  the  crowning  glory  of  his  ad 
ministration.  He  made  it  possible  for  this  country 
to  expand  until  it  has  become  the  mightiest  amontx 
the  nations. 

Burr's  feelings  were  warmly  enlisted  in  Hamilton's  \ 
scheme,  but  of  course  he  could  not  be  received  as  a 
party  to  any  enterprise  of  which  Hamilton  was  a 
prominent  leader.  Besides,  Burr,  like  Adams,  was  op 
posed  to  any  movement  of  that  kind  against  Spain, 
while  friendly  relations  existed  between  that  coun- 


232  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

try  and  the  United  States.  From  that  time  Burr's 
thoughts  were  much  occupied  with  a  similar  project, 
but  confined  to  the  Mexican  provinces.  At  an  early 
day  he  had  frequent  con versaTions"  with  John  Jay 
upon  the  subject,  and  that  statesman  had  expressed 
the  opinion  that  it  was  not  impracticable. 

In  1805,  when  Burr  made  his  first  visit  to  the 
western  country,  he  met  with  General  Wilkinson' 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  by  whom  he 
was  assured  that  a  war  with  Spain  was  inevitable 
and  imminent.  Burr  became  deeply  interested;  here 
was,  possibly,  the  long  waited-for  opportunity  for 
engaging  in  his_MaxiGaji_ejvtej^>ri8e.  He  sounded 
Wilkinson,  and  found  him  already  interested,  with 
Clark  and  a  few  others,  in  a  project  of  the  kind. 
Burr  did  not  desire  too  many  »'  leaders  "  in  the  enter 
prise,  and  had  little  trouble  to  detach  Wilkinson  from 
Clark  and  the  others,  and  confine  the  expedition  to 
the  management  of  themselves.  Their  agreement 
was,  substantially,  that  Wilkinson  was  to  give  the 
earliest  possible  notice  to  Burr  of  his  orders  to  move 
upon  the  Spanish  army;  that  the  instant  war  was 
thus  inaugurated,  Burr  would  issue  his  call  for  volun 
teers,  which,  under  the  war  feeling  that  would  be 
engendered  by  the  actual  presence  of  war,  would 
receive  prompt  response.  With  these  Burr  would  join 
Wilkinson's  regulars,  and  together  they  would  move 
to  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  and  when  this  was  accom 
plished,  Burr  and  Wilkinson,  with  all  who'chose  to 


BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS.  233 

join  them,  would  remain  and  organize  an  independenJtr*-/A 
government.     This  is  the  outline  of  the  arrangement 
between  Burr  and  Wilkinson.  "^sj 

Burr  lived  to  see  this  work,  which  he  had  pro 
posed  for  himself,  accomplished  by  others.  He  lived 
to  see  Texas  an  independent  state,  and  the  American 
adventurers  who  won  that  independence  lauded  as 
heroes  and  patriots.  He  was  old  and  ill,  but  he 
watched  the  struggle  with  intense  interest.  After 
Texan  independence  was  accomplished,  a  friend  call 
ing  upon  him  one  morning  found  him  all  excitement 
He  had  just  learned  the  rosul t.  '_•  T  h  e  re , '  he  cried, 
pointing  to  his  newepape^*  "ynn  ^ee  I  was  right! 
I  was  only  thirty  years  too  soon  !  What  was  treason 
in  me,  thirty  years  ago,  is  patriotism  now."  Burr 
was  rigKFf  his  propfl«ea  conquest  of  5lexico,  an  enter; 
prise  he  bad  great \y  jbt  Heart,  'was  precisely  in 
principle  the  same  as  Hamilton's  proposed  liberation 
of  South  America,  and  exactly  what  Houston  did  in 
winning  the  independence  and  organizing  the. state 
of  Texas.  Yet  men  guided  by  prejudice  and  regard 
less  of  reason  condemn  Burr,  while  they  excuse 
Hamilton  and  extol  Houston. 

Burr's  intention  to  raise  an  independent  volun 
teer  corps,  without  a  commission  from  the  gov 
ernment,  was  not  unpatriotic  or  unlawful;  it  was 
exactly  what  Andrew  Jackson  did  a  tew  years  later. 
Jaclcson^had  been  a  faithful  friend  of  Burr,  and  ap 
proved  his  Mexican  conquest  project,  if  prosecuted. 


234  BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS. 

as  Burr  proposed,  during  a  \viir  with  Spain.  He 
had  been  outspoken  in  Burr's  defense  during  his 
trial  at  Bichmond,  and  had  thereby  gained  the  last 
ing  enmity  of  Jefferson  and  his  secretary  of  state  — 
Madison.  When  the  war  of  1812  began  he  was  per 
haps  the  best  soldier  and  ablest  commander  in  the 
western  country.  He  ottered  his  services  to  the 
government  and  was  rejected.  Madison  had  not 
forgotten  he  had  been  the  friend  of  Burr,  and  Madi 
son  believed  with  Jefferson,  that  '-all  Burr's  friends 
were  his  accomplices,''  and  that  all  were  traitors. 
Jackson  could,  therefore,  get  no  commission,  and 
that  \vas  all  he  asked.  He  offered  to  raise  the  com 
mand  himself  in  thirty  days.  But  Madison  was  ob 
durate:  he  would  give  no  command  to  any  one 
tainted  with  friendship  for  Burr.  But  Jackson  de 
termined  to  force  himself  into  service ;  the  war,  as 
conducted,  was  meeting  only  with  disaster,  and  he 
longed  to  retrieve  it. 

He  determined  to  act  upon  his  own  responsibility ; 
lie  issued  a  call  for  volunteers,  and  soon  had  a  large 
force  enlisted  and  organi/ed.  He  tendered  these  to 
the  government.  Madison,  frightened  at  the  failure 
of  the  war  thus  far,  dared  not  refuse  them.  Jack 
son's  division  was  accepted  and  ordered  to  Natchez, 
hundreds  of  miles  away,  requiring  a  march  through 
a  dense  wilderness,  to  be  made  in  mid-winter.  But 
the  gallant  volunteers,  with  Jackson  at  their  head, 
were  undaunted  ;  they  met  with  almost  every  diffi- 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS.  235 

culty,  but  they  surmounted  all  without  murmur. 
To  their  mortification  and  that  of  their  brave  leader, 
when  they  reached  Natchez,  they  found  Madison 
had  changed  his  mind,  and  Jackson  met  an  order 
directing  him  to  disband  his  troops  and  deliver  all 
arms  and  military  stores  in  his  possession  to  a  gov 
ernment  agent  appointed  to  receive  them.  It  was  a 
cruel  and  unexpected  order,  and  Jackson  determined 
to  disobey  it.  He  could  not  proceed,  of  course,  but 
he  would  not  disband  his  men  a  thousand  miles  from 
home,  with  no  provision  for  their  sustenance  or  means 
of  transportation  on  their  return.  He  obeyed  the 
order  only  by  turning  and  marching  back  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  came.  He  disbanded  his  men 
at  their  homes  where  he  enlisted  them. 

The  wavering  and  uncertain  disposition  of  Madi 
son  was  never  more  distinctly  exhibited  than  in  this 
treatment  of  Jackson.  But  if  the  government  would 
not  give  him  opportunity  to  serve  his  country,  his 
neighbors,  who  knew  him  well,  were  glad  to  do  so. 
It  was  not  long  after  his  humiliating  return  from 
Natchez  that  the  southern  Indians,  incited  by  the 
British  and  Spaniards  in  Florida,  declared  war,  and 
announced  it  by  the  terrible  massacre  at  Fort  Mimms. 
All  Tennessee  was  threatened  and  in  danger.  A 
meeting  was  called  at  Nashville  and  a  force  of  twenty- 
live  hundred  volunteers  enrolled,  and  Jackson  given 
the  command.  He  had  no  commission  from  the 
government,  and  he  needed  none;  the  confidence  of 


W- 


li36  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

his  neighbors  was  enough.  Thus  he  entered  upon  a 
campaign  long  and  terrible,  taxing  his  energies  and 
his  resources  to  the  utmost,  but  which  resulted  in 
the  total  defeat  of  the  Indians.  With  this  record  of 
Jackson,  made  with  only  a  commission  from  his 
state,  it  will  not  do  to  say  Burr's  proposal  to  raise 
volunteers  and  march  upon  Mexico  in  time  of  war, 
without  a  commission  from  the  government,  was  in 
an}-  way  objectionable.  Jackson's  success  brought 
him  at  length  a  commission  of  major  general  to  suc 
ceed  General  Wm.  II.  Harrison. 

A  second  project  which  Burr  had  in  hand  at  the 
time  he  met  Wilkinson  in  the  summer  of  1805.  was 
a  settlement  on  what  waa  k-aown.  as  {Jin  Rfl.at.rnp 
4&«4s*  Previous  to  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States,  Baron  Bastrop  had  obtained  a  large 
grant  of  land  from  the  Spanish  government.  A  con 
dition  of  this  grant  was,  that  within  a  specified  time 
he  was  to  settle  two  hundred  families  upon  these 
lands.  Bastrop  conveyed  a  portion  of  this  grant  to 
Colonel  Charles  Lynch,  and  from  Lynch  Burr  pur 
chased  400,000  acres,  subject  to  the  original  condi 
tion  of  settlement,  and  made  the  first  payment  of 
five  thousand  dollars.  In  this  purchase  other  men 
of  prominence  and  wealth  were  joined  with  Burr, 
but  he  was  to  have  the  active  management  of  the 
matter.  On  the  trial  at  Richmond  this  purchase 
was  established,  and  the  actual  payment  to  Lynch  of 
five  thousand  dollars  was  also  proved. 


BURR'S   REAL  INTENTIONS.  237 

No  man  held  more  entirely  the  confidence  of 
Burr,  in  respect  to  his  western  enterprises,  than  did  _^-v 
General  Adair,  of  Kentuck}'.  His  testimony  upon 
this  point  is  highly  important,  and  his  character \  ^* 
places  his  statement  beyond  impeachment.  General 
Adair  writes,  in  March.  1807:  "So  far  as  I  know  or 
believe  of  the  intentions  of  Colonel  Burr  (and  my 
enemies  will  agree  I  am  not  ignorant  on  this  sub 
ject),  they  were  to  prepare  and  lead  an  expedition 
into  Mexico,  predicated  on  a  war  between  the  two 
governments;  without  a  war  he  knew  he  could  do 
nothing.  On  this  war  taking  place  he  calculated 
with  certainty,  as  well  from  the  policy  of  the  meas 
ure  at  this  time  as  from  the  positive  assurances  of 
Wilkinson,  who  seemed  to  have  the  power  to  force  it 
in  his  own  hands.  This  continued  to  be  the  object 
of  Colonel  Burr  until  he  heard  of  the  venal  and 
shameful  bargain  made  by  Wilkinson  at  the  Sabine 
river ;  this  information  he  received  soon  after  the  at 
tempt  to  arrest  him  in  Frankfort.  He  then  turned 
his  attention  altogether  towards  strengthening  him-, 
self  on  the  Washita,  and  waiting  a  more  favorable 
crisis.  I  thought  the  first  of  these  objects  honorable 
and  worthy  the  attention  of  any  man  :  but  I  was  not 
engaged  in  it,  my  political  as  well  as  private  pur 
suits  forbidding  me  from  taking  a  part  until  it  was 
over ;  nor  did  I  ever  believe,  notwithstanding  Wil 
kinson's  swaggering  letters  to  me  on  that  subject, 
which  may  be  seen,  that  a  war  would  take  place." 


238  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

Burr's  own  statement  was  that  he  gave  up  all 
hope  of  a  conquest  of  Mexico  early  in  October,  when 
he  learned  that  an  active  correspondence  was  then 
going  on  between  Jefferson  and  Wilkinson.  He 
knew  that  if  that  were  true7*WilkiiiBOtf  was  prepar 
ing  to  withdraw  from  his  agreement.  He  had  in 
deed  abandoned  alTTnTe'ntic-n  of  attempting  anything 
more  than  the  settlement  of  his  Washita  lands,  some 
weeks  before  his  first  arresf^at  Frankfort.  This 
fact  he  announced  to  his  confidential  friend,  Senator 
Smith,  of  Cincinnati,  in  a  letter  dated  October  26, 
1806,  written  to  deny  the  rumors  that  his  intention 
was  to  divide  the  Union.  He  writes  as  follows : 

"  If  there  exists  any  design  to  separate  the  western 
from  the  eastern  states,  I  am  totally  ignorant  of  it; 
J  never  harbored  or  expressed  any  such  intention  to 
any  one.  nor  did  any  one  ever  intimate  such  design 
to  me.  Indeed,  I  have  no  conception  of  any  mode 
in  which  such  a  measure  could  be  promoted,  except 
by  operating  on  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  demon 
strating  it  to  be  to  their  interest.  I  have  never  writ 
ten  or  published  a  line  on  this  subject,  nor  ever 
expressed  any  other  sentiments  than  those  which  you 
may  have  heard  from  me  in  public  companies  at 
Washington  and  elsewhere,  and  in  which,  I  think, 
you  concurred.  It  is  a  question  on  which  I  feel  no 
interest,  and  certainly  I  never  sought  a  conversation 
upon  it  with  any  one;  but,  even  if  I  had  written  and 


BURR'S   REAL   INTENTIONS.  239 

talked  ever  so  much  of  the  matter,  it  could  not  be 
deemed  criminal. 

"But  the  idea.  I  am  told,  which  some  malevolent 
persons  circulate,  is,  that  a  separation  is  to  be  effected 
by  force;  this  appears  to  me  to  be  as  absurd,  and  as 
unworthy  of  contradiction,  as  if  I  had  been  charged 
with  a  design  to  change  the  planetary  system.  All 
the  armies  of  France  could  not  effect  such  a  purpose, 
because  they  could  not  get  here :  and  if  they  could 
get  here,  they  could  not  subsist,  and  if  they  could 
subsist,  they  would  certainly  be  destroyed. 

UI  have  no  political  views  whatever;  those  which 
I  entertained  some  months  ago,  and  which  were  commu 
nicated  to  you,  have  been  abandoned. 

"Having  bought  of  Colonel  Lynch  four  hundrgj^ 
thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Washita,  I  propose  to 
send  thither  this  fall  a  number  of  settlers,  as  many 
as  will  go  and  labor  for  a  certain  time,  to  be  paid  in 
land  and  found  in  provisions  for  the  timo_lli££-liibor 
—  perhaps  one  year.  Mr.  J.  Breckenridge.  Adair. 
and  Fowler  have  separately  told  me  that  it  was  the 
strong  desire  of  the  administration  that  American 
settlers  should  go  into  that  quarter,  and  that  I  could 
not  do  a  thing  more  grateful  to  the  government.  I 
have  some  other  views  which  are  personal  morel}*, 
and  which  1  shall  have  no  objection  to  state  to  you 
personally,  but  which  I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to 
publish  ;  if  these  projects  could  affect  the  interests  of 
the  United  States  it  would  be  beneficially,  yet  I 


240  BL'KR'S    REAL    INTENTIONS. 

\  acknowledge  no  public  considerations  have  led  me  to 
this  speculation,  but  merely  the  interest  and  comfort 
of  myself  and  friends." 

About  the  same  time  General  .Jackson  addressed 
a  letter  to  Colonel  Burr,  in  which  he  alluded  to  the 
rumor  that  Burr  meditated  treasonable  designs 
against  the  United  States,  adding  that,  if  this  be 
true,  he  would  hold  no  communication  with  him; 
but.  if  untrue,  and  his  intentions  were  still  to  pro 
ceed  to  Mexico,  he  (Jackson)  would  "join  and  ac 
company  him  with  his  whole  division."  .Jackson 
was  in  thorough  sympathy  with  Burr's  project  of 
^invading  Mexico,  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Spain. 
I  But  neither  of  therrr  ever  entertained  designs  hostile 
/  to  the  United  States.  ,  It  was  Jackson's  perfect 
^s,^  knowledge  of  all  Burr's  plans,  and  his  approval  of 
them,  which  made  him  so  fearlessly  defend  Burr 
when  arraigned  on  a  charge  _oil  treason.  When  the 
passing  of  the  war  cloud  made  Burr's  Mexican 
schemes  impossible,  and  he  turned  his  attention  to 
the  settlement  of  his  lands  on  the  Washita,  Jackson, 
wishing  him  succcfS,  declined  to  join  in  the  land  ad 
venture.  But  Jackson  remained  so  faithful  a  friend 
of  Burr,  that  long  afterward,  when  he  became  presi 
dent,  he  promptly  and  apparently  with  much  pleas- 
urs,  appointed  several  of  Burr's  friends  to  official 
position,  solely  on  Burr's  recommendation.  And  it 
is  remembered  that  Burr  was  the  first  person  in  the 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS.  241 

country  to  suggest  Jackson  for  the  presidency,  which 
licHTd  irTtheauuTmn  of  1815. 

Tte  conquest  of  Mexico  was  the  subject  of  daily 
discussion  in  airj^ojrernment  circles  during  the  sum 
mer  of  1805.  especially  in  the  executive  departments. 
The  war  with  Spain  —  for  war  with  that  country  was 
then  deemed  inevitable  — was  the  almost  universal 
theme  of  interest  and  conversation.  It  was  in  large 
measure  a  political  question,  and  was  approved  by 
nearly  all  the  leading  friends  of  the  administration. 
They  were  friends  of  Jefferson  and  had  hi's  sympathy 
aYid  support.  But  the  proposed  .conquest  was  contin-\/ 
gent  upxm  war  being  declared  against  Spain.  Th^  f 
indignation  expressed  against  that  country  was  in 
tensely  bitter,  and  had  culminated  in  the  special 
"  war  message  "  sent  to  congress  by  the  president  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1805.  ^tefferswy  wanted  war, 
the  people  wanted  war,  and  everybody  wanted  con 
quest  to. accompany  war.  The  president's  war  mes 
sage,  though  sent  confidentially  to  congress,  by  some 
means  became  known  to  the  French  minister  to  this 
country.  Soon  the  minister,  by  the  order  of  Na 
poleon,  informed  this  government  that  if  the  United 
States  attacked  Spain,  France  would  defend  her. 
That  ended  all  talk  of  war  .and  conquest  on  the  part 
of  the  administration  and  its  friends. 

Jefferson's  submission  to  the  dictation  of  France 
was  the  greatest  blow  his  popularity  with  the  people 
ever  received.  It  was  the  beginning  of  his  downfall 


242  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

as  a.  party  leader.  The  insults  received  from  Spain 
had  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  whole  country,  and 
the  almost  universal  voice  of  the  people  demanded 
war.  France  sends  insult  and  defiance,  and  the 
president  tamely  submits,  humbly  accepting  insult 
upon  insult,  until  the  French  minister  at  Washington 
tells  his  government,  almost  pityingly,  that  the  Amer 
ican  government  "allowed  itself  to  be  outraged  every 
day  and  accepted  all  the  humiliation  offered."  Jef 
ferson  excused  himself  on  the  ground  of  economy, 
declaring,  in  substance,  that  the  country  cannot 
afford  to  go  to  war  until  its  debts  are  paid,  which 
may  be  done,  he  said,  if  we  "keep  at  peace  eight 
years  longer."  The  -spirit  of  the  people  was  seldom 
more  aroused  than  at  this  action  of  the  president. 
Our  government  had  been  for  years  insulted  by  Eng 
land,  mistreated  by  Spain,  and  now  domineered  over 
by  France,  and  our  president  meekly  bowed  his 
head,  saying  let  us  bear  these  wrongs  until  we  get 
out  of  debt,  and  then  we  can  talk  of  war. 

The  people  were  indignant:  Jefferson's  enemies 
assailed  him  bitterly;  his  friends  began  to  waver,  and 
it  seemed  that  the  popular  idol  of  yesterday  was  the 
subject  of  complaint  today.  Jefferson  felt  keenly 
the  situation,  but,  as  it  was  asserted  on  every  hand, 
he  had  not  spirit  enough  left  to  defend  the  honor  of 
the  country,  by  avenging  the  insults  heaped  upon  his 
administration.  He  finally  lost  heart  and  almost  in 
despair  withdrew  from  nearly  all  exercise  of  official 


BURR'S   REAL  INTENTIONS.  243 

authority  some  months  before  the  end  of  his  term  of 
office.  His  excuse  for  this  shows  how  thoroughly 
his  humiliation  affected  his  whole  being;  he  who 
had  ever  been  so  self-reliant,  so  ready  to  assume 
responsibility,  humbly  says:  "I  have  thought  it 
right  to  take  no  part  in  proposing  measures,  the  exe 
cution  of  which  will  devolve  upon  my  successor/' 
"Our  situation,"  he  continues,  "is  truly  difficult. 
We  have  been  pressed  by  the  belligerents  to  the  very 
wall,  and  all  further  retreat  is  impracticable."  It 
was  almost  with  a  wail  of  despair,  at  the  humilia 
tions  he  had  brought  upon  the  country,  and  the  loss 
of  respect  from  the  people,  that  Jefferson  retired 
from  the  presidency  and  from  public  life. 

During  the  discussions  of  war  and  conquest  by 
the  president  and  his  friends,  in  the  summer  of  1805. 
Burr  was  making  his  first  visit  to  the  west,  and, 
imbued  with  the  same  spirit  that  stirred  the  adminis 
tration  circles  at  Washington,  was  discussing  plans  of 
conquest  with  Wilkinson,  at  Saint  Louis.  Wilkinson 
was  not  only  personally  acquainted  with  the  Mexican 
officials,  but  also  with  many  of  the  more  prominent 
men  of  that  country,  and  he  detailed  to  Burr  all  the 
information  he  possessed  in  regard  to  Mexico.  He 
pointed  out  the  military  routes  to  traverse  and  the 
friendly  assistance  that  would  undoubtedly  be  given 
an  invading  force  from  the  United  States.  In  short. 
he  made  it  plain  to  Burr  that  with  his  small  body 
of  well-trained  troops,  and  a  supporting  column  of 


244  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

volunteers,  under  Burr,  there  could  be  no  danger  of 
failure.  But  it  was  agreed  by  both  that  this  could 
only  be  undertaken  in  case  of  war  between  the  two 
countries.  On  this  basis  Burr  and  Wilkinson  founded 
their  agreement. 

While  Burr  and  Wilkinson  were  concerting  their 
schemes  Jefferson  was  also  pondering  his  plans  of 
conquest.  lie  sent  a  trusty  messenger  to  confer 
with  the  authorities  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  includ 
ing  Florida,  to  secure  their  cooperation  in  case  war 
was  declared  and  he  should  desire  to  annex  their 
territory.  Judge  Burnett,  of  Cincinnati,  in  his  Notes 
on  the  northwest  territory,  makes  the  following 
statement : 

"  John  Smith,  a  member  of  the  United  States 
senate  from  Ohio,  who  was  arrested  as  an  accom 
plice  of  Burr,  in  a  conversation  with  his  friends, 
stated  that,  before  the  movements  of  Burr  had  at 
tracted  general  notice,  Mr.  Jefferson  requested  a  con 
fidential  interview  with  him  (Smith),  at  which  he 
inquired  if  he  was  not  personally  acquainted  with 
the  Spanish  officers  of  Louisiana  and  Florida.  On 
being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  went  on  to 
state  that  a  war  with  Spain  seemed  to  be  inevitable ; 
and  that  it  was  very  desirable  to  know  the  feelings 
of  those  men  toward  the  United  States  and  whether 
reliance  could  be  placed  on  their  friendship  if  a  war 
should  take  place  between  the  two  countries.  At 
the  same  time,  he  requested  him  to  visit  the  country, 


BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS.  245 

with  reference  to  that  object.  Mr.  Smith  stated  that 
he  did  visit  the  country,  as  requested  ;  and  that,  on 
his  retunfsjie^j^ported  to  Mr.  Jefferson  that  the 
governor,  the  inferior  officers,  and  the  inhabitants 
generally,  were  not  only  friendly  but  wSrert&sirous 
of  attaching  themselves  to  the  United  States.  \  This 
was  in  the  summer  preceding  the  ;  war  message ' 
against  Spain,  which  was  sent  to  the  two  houses  of 
congress  in  December,  1805.  Although  the  message 
was  confidential,  it  soon  became  known  to  the  diplo 
matic  corps  at  Washington  ;  and  the  French  am 
bassador  was  ordered  by  his  master  (Xapoleon)  to 
inform  the  American  government  that  France  would 
take  part  with  Spain  in  any  contest  she  might  hav( 
with  the  United  States.  It  is  a  matter  of  history 
.that,  after  that  notice,  the  project  against  Spain,  com 
municated  in  the  confidential  message  and  referred 
to  in  the  conversation  with  Mr.  Smith,  was  aban 
doned  ;  and  about  the  same  time  measures  were 
taken  to  stop  the  movements  of  Burr." 

This  action  on  the  part  of  France  deterred  the 
president  and  congress  from  declaring  war  on  Spain, 
but  it  did  not  make  it  certain  that  war  would  not 
come  through  the  act  of  Spain.  The  disputed  bound 
ary  line  between  the  two  countries  was  still  un 
settled.  The  Spanish  soldiers  were  still  pressing 
upon  our  border,  pushing  their  way  further  and 
further  into  territory  claimed  by  the  United  States. 
That  these  encroachments  would  not  be  repelled  by 


246  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

force  could  not  be  imagined.  Our  people,  especially 
in  the  west,  were  clamorous  for  war,  that  the  in 
vaders  might  be  driven  out.  War  seemed  just  as  in 
evitable  as  it  did  before  the  president  and  congress 
succumbed  to  the  threat  of  France.  There  was  no 
reason  then  that  any  real  intention  of  a  conquest  of 
Mexico,  dependent  upon  war,  should  be  suspended 
or  any  eftbrt  in  preparing  for  it  be  relaxed.  Burr 
svas  aware  of  this  fact,  and  he  was  assured  hy  Wil 
kinson  that  war  could  not  be  avoided.  He,  there 
fore,  in  conjunction  with  Wilkinson,  continued  his 
preparations  for  immediate  action  if  war  did  come. 
In  his  project  for  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  Burr 
remembered  the  plans  of  Miranda  and  Hamilton  for 
the  conquest  of  South  America,  and  desired,  in  a 
smaller  way,  to  adopt  them.  In  the  South  American 
scheme  Hamilton  was  to  furnish  the  entire  land 
forces  for  the  expedition  and  Great  Britain  agreed  to 
furnish  the  necessary  naval  force.  Believing  that 
Great  Britain  might  be  willing  to  join  in  the  con 
quest  of  Mexico  on  terms  similar  to  those  made  with 
Miranda  and  Hamilton.  Burr  had  several  confer 
ences  with  Mr.  Merry,  the  British  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  on  the  subject,  and  from  the  encouragement 
given  by  Merry,  Burr,  for  a  time,  had  much  hope 
that  an  arrangement  of  the  kind  might  be  effected. 
Colonel  Williamson,  a  Scotchman,  of  good  family 
influence^  was  sent  to  London  to  present  the  matter 
to  the  British  government.  But  Pitt,  the  premier 


BURR'S   REAL  INTENTIONS.  247 

who  had  favored  the  South  American  project,  was 
just  dead,  and  the  new  minister  would  not  consider  it. 

Burnett  was  mistaken  in  saying  that  Jefferson 
commenced  his  interference  with  Burr's  movements 
because  of  his  own  abandonment  of  a  declaration  of 
war  against  Spain.  Jefferso 

with  Burr's  movemenTsfrom  the  beginning;  he  cer 
tainly  knew  of  them  for  months  before  he  interfered. 
Colonel  Daviess,  of  Kentucky,  began  a  correspond 
ence  with  the  president  on  the  10th  of  January, 
1806,  in  which  he  detailed  to  him  all  that  he  knew 
or  suspected  of  what  Burr  was  doing.  He  wrote 
frequently  and  urgently  to  induce  him  to  interfere. 

But  Jefferson  ignored  his  communications,  not 
even  replying  to  them.  He  had  no  objections  to 
what  Burr  was  doing^  and  cared_nothing.  At  that 
time  he  Eadno  feeling  against  Burr.  He  had  suc 
ceeded  in  driving  him  out  of  public  life  and  from 
his  own  political  pathway,  and  he  was  content  now 
to  let  him  go  in  peace.  He  might  make  a  conquest 
of  all  Mexico  if  he  wished  and  could.  He  would 
stretch  out  no  restraining  hand.  But  there  came  a 
time  when  his  feelings  changed,  his  anger  against 
him  was  aroused,  and  his  heart  was  filled  with  hatred 
and  venom  toward  Burr.  He  then  resolved  to  crush 
him  to  the  death. 

It  wflft  whop  lie  road  Bayard's  deposition,  charg 
ing  him  with  having  purchased  his  election  to  the 
presidency  in  1801,  and  stating  the  price  he  paid  for 


248  BURR'S  REAL  INTENTIONS. 

it.  He  thought  General  Samuel  Smith,  his  personal 
and  political  friend,  would  deny  it  for  him.  But 
when  on  the  next  day  he  read  Smith's  deposition 
confirming  Bayard's  statement  in  every  detail,  he 
dare  make  no  denial.  And  he  never  did  publicly 
deny  it.  He  believed,  but  mistakenly,  that  the 
exposure  had  been  instigated  by  Burr.  lie  grew 
desperate,  and  determined  to  resort  to  any  and  every 
means  to  disgrace  and  ruin  him.  It  was  then  he 
resolved  to  watch  Burr's  movements  for  an  oppor 
tunity  to  injure  him.  It  was  revenge,  not  justice,  he 
was  seeking  when  ho  began  to  raise  a  clamor  and 
create  an  excitement  against  Burr.  With  all  the 
power  and  patronage  of  the  government  at  his  com 
mand,  he  did  create  a  prejudice  against  Burr,  which 
ruined  his  reputation,  but  he  failed  utterly  to  convict 
him  of  any  crime.  No  witnesses  testified  against  him 
charging  him  with  crime,  except  the  perjured  Wil 
kinson  and  the  purchased  Eaton;  and  these  were 
fully  discredited  at  the  trial  in  Eichmond.  Wilkin 
son  openly  acknowledged  his  perjury,  and  Eaton 
testified  to  the  price  paid  for  his.  They  both  on 
oath  admitted  their  infamy. 

It  was  not  the  witnesses  but  the  newspapers  that 
caused  Burr's  disgrace.  Xothing  was  proved  against 
him,  but  everything  was  published  and  believed 
against  him.  The  newspaper  reports  were  marvels 
of  falsehood  and  wickedness.  Statements  were 
printed  which  every  person  in  attendenceat  the  trial 


BURR'S   HEAL   INTENTIONS.  249 

knew  to  be  without  a  shadow  of  foundation.  But 
they  circulated  everywhere  and  were  believed  by 
the  people.  A  singular  rebuke  was  given  to  the 
press  at  this  time  by  the  man  to  whom  it  had  prosti 
tuted  itself.  While  Burr's  trial  was  in  progress, 
and  while  the  Virginia  papers  were  overflowing  with 
calumnies  of  Burr,  Jefferson  wrote  the  following  de 
nouncement  of  newspapers: 

u  Nothing  can  now  be  believed  which  is  seen  in  ] 
a  newspaper.  Truth  itself  becomes  suspicious  by 
being  put  into  that  polluted  vehicle.  The  real  ex 
tent  of  this  state  of  misinformation  is  known  only 
to  those  who  are  in  a  situation  to  confront  facts 
within  their  knowledge  with  the  lies  of  the  day.  I 
really  look  with  commiseration  over  the  great  body 
of  my  fellow-citizens,  who,  reading  newspapers,  live 
and  die  in  the  belief  that  they  have  known  some 
thing  of  what  has  been  passing  in  the  world  in 
their  time  ;  whereas,  the  accounts  they  read  in  news 
papers  are  just  as  true  a  history  of  any  other  period 
of  the  world  as  of  the  present,  except  that  the  real 
names  of  tl  e  day  are  affixed  to  their  fables.  *  * 
*  I  will  add  that  the  man  who  never  looks  into  a 
newspaper  is  better  informed  than  he  who  reads 
them  ;  inasmuch  as  he  who  knows  nothing  is  nearer 
to  truth  than  he  whose  mind  is  filled  with  falsehood 
and  errors.  He  who  reads  nothing  will  still  kno 
the  great  facts  and  the  details  are  all  false.'' 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  INDICTMENT. 


The  Examination  —  Committed  for  Trial  —  Bail  Required  and  Given  — 
Burr's  Speech  —  Case  Called  for  Trial  —  The  Counsel  Engaged  —  The 
Indictment  —  Burr's  Danger  —  Charged  with  Treaaon  —  Condemned 
by  Clamor—  Court  Takes  Recess  — Burr  in  Penitentiary  —  Great 
Numbers  Visit  Him  —  Washington  Irving  —  His  Letters. 


Burr  was  delivered  by  his  captors  to  the  civil 
authorities  at  Kichmond,  Virginia,  on  the  26th  of 
March,  1807.  The  long  journey  through  the  wilder 
ness  from  Mississippi  to  Virginia,  occupying  twenty- 
one  days,  was  borne  by  Burr  without  murmur  or 
complaint.  A  few  days  after  being  brought  to  Rich 
mond  he  was  taken  before  Chief  Justice  Marshall 
for  examination.  This  was  for  the  purpose  of  deter 
mining  whether  there  was  sufficient  cause  for  com 
mitment  for  trial.  Burr  had  engaged  counsel  and 
made  vigorous  efforts  to  avoid  being  held  for  trial 
upon  any  charge.  The  brief  speech  made  by  Burr 
on  this  occasion  presents  his  defense  strongly.  We 
give  an  abstract  of  it.  Colonel  Burr  denied  that 
there  was  the  smallest  ground  for^velTaTraccusation 
against  him.  The  countryf  he  saidL^had  been  cause- 

(250) 


THE   INDICTMENT.  251 

lessly  Alarmed  by  Wilkinson L  and^the  president.  He 
appealed  to  facts  known  to  all ;  to  the  hisfory  of  his 
arraignments  in  the  west ;  to  the  promptness  with 
which  he  had  met  every  charge;  and  to  the  unan 
imity  with  which  juries  had  acquitted  him.  If  there 
had  been  any  cause  of  alarm,  it  mustjiave  been 
known  to  the  people  in  that  part  of  the  country 
where  his  offense  was  said  to  have  been  committed. 
The  manner  of  his  descent  of  the  river  was  proof 
enough  that  his  object  was  purely  peaceable  and 
agricultural.  He  declared  that  all  his  designs  were 
honorable,  and  calculated  to  be  beneficial  to  the 
United  States.  His  flight,  as  it  was  termed,  had  been 
mentioned  as  a  proof  of  guilt;  but  it  was  only  from 
the  resistless  arm  of  military  despotism  that  he 
had  fled.  Was  it  his  duty  to  remain  surrounded  by 
armed  men  assembled  tor  his  unlawful  capture  ?  He 
thought  not.  He  took  the  advice  of  his  best  friends, 
pursued  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment,  and  aban 
doned  a  country  where  the  laws  had  ceased  to  be  the 
sovereign  power.  The  charge  stated  in  a  handbill, 
that  he  had  forfeited  his  recognizance,  was  false.  He 
had  forfeited  no  recognizance.  If  he  had  forfeited 
any  recognizance,  why  had  no  proceedings  taken 
place  for  the  breach  of  it  ?  If  he  was  to  be  prose 
cuted  for  such  breach,  he  wished  to  know  why  he 
was  brought  to  this  place?  Why  not  carry  him  to 
the  place  where  the  breach  happened?  More  than 
three  months  had  elapsed  since  the  order  of  govern- 


THE   INDICTMENT. 


ment  had  been  issued  to  seize  and  bring  him.  to  that 
place ;  yet  it  was  pretended  that  sufficient  time  had 
not  been  allowed  to  adduce  testimony  in  support  of 
the  prosecution.  He  asked  why  the  guard,  who  con 
ducted  him  to  that  place,  avoided  every  magistrate 
on  the  way.  unless  from  a  conviction  that  they  were 
acting  without  lawful  authority?  Why  had  he  been 
debarred  the  use  of  pen  and  ink  and  paper,  and  not 
even  permitted  to  write  to  his  daughter?  In  the 
state  of  South  Carolina,  where  he  happened  to  see 
three  men  together,  he  demanded  the  interposition 
of  the  civil  authority;  it  was  from  military  despot 
ism,  from  the  tyranny  of  a  military  escort,  that  he 
wished  to  be  delivered,  not  from  an  investigation 
into  his  conduct,  or  from  the  operation  of  the  laws 
of  his  country. 

The  examination  before  the  chief  justice  lasted 
for  three  days,  when  he  decided  to  hold  Burr  on  the 
charge  of  misdemeanor.  Bail  was  fixed  in  the  sum 
of  ten  thousand  dollars,  which  was  promptly  given 
by  five  gentlemen  of  -Richmond,  conditioned  that 
Burr  would  appear  at  the  next  circuit  court  ,of  the 
United  States,  to  be  held  in  that  city,  on  the  22d 
of  May  following.  Burr  was  then  discharged  from 
custody. 

Burr  now  could  plainly  see  that  it  would  not  be 
for  any  infraction  of  the  law  he  would  be  compelled 
to  defend  in  his  coming  trial.  He  was  conscious  he 
had  been  guilty  of  no  crime  whatever,  and  yet  he 


THE    INDICTMENT.  253 

was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  convicted  of  a  most 
heinous  crime.  The  purchased  and  perjured  affi 
davit  of  Katon.  and  the  cipher  letter,  furnished  by 
Wilkinson,  tainted  with  both  forgery  and  perjury, 
which  .-Jefferson  had  published  widespread  over  the 
land,  had  created  such  general  prejudice  against 
Hurr,  especially  in  Virginia,  that  it  seemed  impossi 
ble  he  could  receive  a  fair  trial  in  that  state. 
even  this  was  not  his  greatest  danger;  Jefferson 
had  so  thoroughly  committed  himself  in  denouncing 
Burr's  guilt  that  he  dare  not  permit  his  acquittal. 
After  the  assurance  the  president  had  given  to  con 
gress  and  to  the  country  that  there  was  no  doubt  of 
Burr's  guilt,  after  all  the  excitement  and  clamor 
stirred  up  by  his  agents  and  emissaries.  Burr's  ac 
quittal  would  cover  him  with  shame  and  confusion, 
and  he  would  be  a  subject  of  ridicule  to  all  the 
people.  Burr  must,  therefore,  be  convicted  at  all 
hazards  and  at  any  expense.  If  not  by  evidence, 
then  by  prejudice.  This  was  Burr's  supreme  dan- 
ger :  Tie  "must  meet  single-handed  the  whole  power 
of  the  administration.  Jefferson's  well  known  and 
extraordinary  credulity  led  many  people  to  believe 
that  he  was  sincere  in  declaring  his  belief  in  Burr's 
guilt.  About  the  time  he  received  the  report  of  Gen 
eral  Jackson's  investigation  of  Burr's  proceedings, 
and  knew  that  the  whole  expedition  consisted  of  but 
sixty  unarmed  men,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "Burr's 
enterprise  is  the  most  extraordinary  since  the  days 


254  THE  INDICTMENT. 

of  Doji-Qttixote.  It  is  so  extravagant  that  those  who 
know  his  understanding  would  not  believe  it  if  the 
proofs  admitted  of  doubt.  He  has  meant  to  place 
himself  on  the  throne  of  Montezuma,  and  extend  his 
empire  to  the  Allegheny,  seizing  on  New  Orleans  as 
the  instrument  of  compulsion  for  our  western  states." 
That  men  could  believe  such  nonsense,  because" 
it  was  uttered  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  is  one  of  the 
wonders  of  modern  history.  Parton,  a  great  friend 
and  eulogist  of  Jefferson,  and  who  screens  him  from 
censure  whenever  possible,  speaking  of  this  extrava 
gant  opinion,  says  :  "  What  impossibilities  does  this 
closet-wise  man  attribute  to  his  late  companion  and 
rival.  By  what  means  imaginable  could  the  western 
states  be  compelled  to  yield  submission  to  a  usurper 
at  New  Orleans?  The  states  of  this  Union  are  so 
constituted  and  circumstanced  that  treason  of  the 
kind  attributed  to  Aaron  Burr  is  a  simple  and  mani 
fest  impossibility.'  There  is  no  part  of  .Jefferson's 
long  career  in  which  he  appears  to  so  little  advan 
tage  as  during  the  period  we  are  now  considering. 
His  mind  was  absurdly  excited.  One  of  his  letters 
to  Senator  Giles,  written  a  few  days  after  Burr's  first 
examination  at  Richmond,  speaks  of  the  tricks  of  the 
judges  in  hastening  the  trial  so  as  to  clear  Burr; 
rails  at  the  Federalists,  saying  that  they  were  dis 
appointed  at  Burr's  failure  to  rend  the  Union.  'If/ 
said  he,  'Burr  had  succeeded  ever  so  partially,  the 
Federalists  were  ready  to  join  him  in  the  attempt  to 


THE   INDICTMENT.  255 


overthrow  this  hated  republic,'  and  introduce  their 
favorite  monarchy!  'At  first,'  he  adds,  'the  Fed- 
alists  accused  the  president  of  permitting  treason  to 
stalk  through  the  land  in  open  day '  ;  but  now  they 
complained  because  he  crushed  it  before  it  had 
ripened  to  an  overt  act.  vJIe.  proceeds  to  denounce 
the  Federal  judges,  of  whom  John  Marshall  was 
the  chief,  in  a  manner  which  shows  that  philoso 
phers  axfi_s_ometimes  angry  and  that  sages  are  not 
always  wise.  He  wrote  also  to  Governor  Pinckney, 
of  South  Carolina,  telling  him  that  Alston  was  im 
plicated  with  Burr;  had  traveled,  solicited,  indorsed 
for  Burr;  and  inquiring  whether  it  would  be  advisa 
ble  to  take  any  measure  against  him.  In  one  word, 
the  real  prosecutor  of  Aaron  Burr,  throughout  this 
business,  was  Thomas  Jefferson,  president  of  the 
United  States,  wn"owas  made  president  of  the  United 
States  by  Aftroftr^fiarVs  tact  and  vigilance,  and  who 
was  able  therefore  to  wield  against  Aaron  Burr  the 
power  and  resourc£a_of  the  United  States." 

The  case  was  called  for  trial  on  Friday,  the  22d 
day  of  May,  1807,  in  the  court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  fifth  circuit  and  district  of  Virginia,  in  ses 
sion  at  Eichmond.  The  court  consisted  of  John 
Marshall,  chief  justice  of  the  United  States;  and 
Cyrus  Griffin,  judge  of  the  district  of  Virginia. 

The  trial  of  Burr  was  one  of  the  most  memora 
ble  in  the  annals  of  this  country.  The  report  in  full 
filled  two  thick  octavo  volumes.  John  Marshall, 


256  THE    INDICTMENT. 

chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  presided,  and  the 
array  of  counsel  was  the  most  brilliant  ever  gathered 
on  a  similar  occasion.  The  district  attorney,  a  son- 
in-law  of  James  Monroe,  and  a  devoted  friend  of 
the  administration,  officially  conducted  the  prosecu 
tion.  He  was  assisted  by  William  Wirt,  then  in  the 
full  prime  of  early  and  vigorous  manhood,  and  by 
Alexander  Mac  Rae,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  the 
state.  On  the  side  of  the  defense,  of  course,  Burr 
himself  stood  at  the  head,  though  he  watched  rather 
than  led  the  proceedings.  Next  came  Luther  Mar 
tin,  in  most  respects  the  ablest  lawyer  of  his  day, 
who  had  gained  national  reputation  in  the  impeach 
ment  trial  of  Judge  Chace  before  the  United  States 
senate,  at  which  Burr  had  presided  with  great  dignity 
and  ability.  John  Wickham,  the  leader  of  the  Rich 
mond  bar;  Edmund  Randolph,  Washington's  attor 
ney-general,  and  Benjamin  Botts  completed  the  list. 
"Among  these  stood  Aaron  Burr,  '  says  Mr.  Rob 
ertson,  the  reporter  of  the  trial,  "proudly  pre-emi 
nent  in  point  of  intelligence  to  his  brethren  of  the 
bar.  who  had  been  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  and  now  accused  of  the  highest  and  darkest 
crime  in  the  criminal  code.  Standing  before  the  su 
preme  tribunal  of  his  country,  and  with  the  eyes  of 
the  nation  upon  him,  he  was,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
already  condemned.  He  had  the  talent  and  tact, 
and  the  resources  of  the  government  to  contend 
against,  and  every  faculty  of  his  mind  was  exerted 


THE    INDICTMENT.  257 

in  his  own  defense.  The  magnitude  of  the  charge, 
the  number  of  persons  involved,  the  former  high 
standing  and  extraordinary  fortunes  of  the  accused, 
had  excited  an  interest  in  the  community  such  as 
never  before  had  been  known.  The  witnesses  against 
him  were  mostly  government  officers,  with  whom, 
at  one  time  or  another,  he  had  been  in  some  way 
connected.'' 

It  was  indeed  a  sad  and  perilous  position  in  which 
Burr  was  placed;  he  was  compelled  to  contend  for 
his  life  against  the  resources  and  power  of  a  govern 
ment  which  had  just  reduced  him  to  absolute  poverty 
by  the  wanton  and  unlawful  destruction  of  his  prop 
erty,  and  ruined  his  reputation  and  deprived  him  of 
friends  by  the  most  unjust  and  malicious  clamor  ever 
raised  against  a  single  man.  Persecuted  by  the 
president,  and  surrounded  by  his  placemen,  sent  to 
swear  away  his  life,  Aaron  Burr,  despising  the  dan 
ger  as  he  despised  his  traducers.  calm  and  undaunted, 
denied  their  charges  and  bade  them  defiance.  But 
it  was  a  most  unequal  fight :  no  precaution  had  been 
omitted  to  make  certain  the  conviction  of  Burr. 
Twice  grand  juries  hud  failed  to  indict  him.  but  this 
time  the  officials  determined  there  should  be  no  fail-  A 
ure.  The  men  summoned  for  grand  jurors  were 
office  holders  or  leading  political  supporters  of  thcvy 
administration  and  enemies  of  Burr. 

They  were  also  from  a  class  of  men  not  usually 
called  to  serve  on  juries.     Among  them  was  Sena- 


258  THE   INDICTMENT. 

tor  Giles,  who  had  recently  been  so  active  in  hurry 
ing  through  the  senate  the  bill  suspending  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus;  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  and 
Wilson  C.  Nicholas,  leading  politicians.  These  men 
were  rejected,  and  did  not  serve;  but  they  repre 
sent  the  class  of  men  summoned,  and  it  was  of  such 
men,  with  John  Randolph,  of  Koanoke,  as  foreman, 
that  the  grand  jury  was  formed.  But  the  grand 
jury,  when  sworn  were  unable  to  begin  investiga 
tion;  the  prosecution  admitted  that  nothing  could 
be  done  until  General  Wilkinson  arrived;  every 
thing  depended  upon  this  witnessA  Mr.  Wirt  said 
his  testimony  "is  the  keystone  which  binds  the 
great  arch  of  evidence  now  in  our  possession." 
Nothing  could  therefore  be  done  until  Wilkinson 
came;  indeed,  it  was  well  understood  that  the  prose 
cution  depended  on  his  testimony  almost  solely  to 
convict  Burr. 

On  the  retirement  of  the  grand  jury,  Burr  ad 
dressed  the  court  upon  the  manner  in  which  he 
wished  the  defense  to  be  conducted.  He  also  asked 
the  court  to  instruct  the  grand  jury  upon  the  ad- 
missibility  of  certain  evidence  he  supposed  would  be 
presented  to  them.  Mr.  Hay  objected  and  insisted 
that  no  favor  be  shown  the  prisoner,  who  stood  upon 
the  same  footing  with  every  other  man  who  had 
committed  a  crime.  "  Would  to  God,"  exclaimed 
Burr,  "that  I  did  stand  on  the  same  footing  of  every 
other  man.  This  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  been 


THE   INDICTMENT.  259 

permitted  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  a  citizen.  How 
have  I  been  brought  hither?"  On  the  next  day  the 
district  attorney  moved  that  Burr  be  committed  for 
high  treason.  He  had  on  his  first  examination  been 
committed  for  misdemeanor.  This  motion  was  de 
bated  by  the  counsel  on  both  sides,  the  discussion 
being  closed  with  a  ten  minutes'  speech  by  Burr. 

He  declared  himself  not  only  willing  but  anxious 
to  proceed  —  but  not  to  proceed  in  the  way  proposed. 
On  a  motion  for  commitment,  ex  parte  evidence  alone 
would  be  introduced,  and  he  would  not  submit  to 
go  on  at  such  disadvantage  when  the  result  involved 
such  consequences  to  himself.  "My  counsel,"  said 
he,  "have  been  charged  with  declamation  against 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  I  certainly, 
sir,  shall  not  be  charged  with  declamation ;  but 
surely  it  is  an  established  principle  that  no  govern 
ment  is  so  high  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  criti 
cism:  and  it  is  particularly  laid  down  that  this  vigil 
ance  is  more  peculiarly  necessary  when  any  govern 
ment  institutes  a  prosecution;  and  one  reason  is,  on 
account  of  the  vast  disproportion  of  means  which 
exists  between  it  and  the  accused.  But  if  there  ever 
was  a  case  which  justified  this  vigilance,  it  is  cer 
tainly  the  present  one,  when  the  government  has  dis 
played  such  uncommon  activity.  If,  then,  this  gov 
ernment  has  been  so  peculiarly  active  against  me,  it 
is  not  improper  to  make  the  assertion  here,  for  the 
purpose  of  increasing  the  circumspection  of  the  court." 


2<K)  THE    INDICTMENT. 

He  observed,  that  he  meant  by  persecution,  the 
harassing  of  any  individual,  contrary  to  the  forms 
of  law ;  and  that  his  case,  unfortunately,  shows  too 
many  instances  of  thiy  description.  His  friends  had 
everywhere  been  seized  by  the  military  authority ; 
a  practice  truly  consonant  with  European  despotism. 
Persons  had  been  dragged  by  compulsory  process 
before  particular  tribunals  and  compelled  to  give 
testimony  against  him.  His  papers,  too,  had  been 
seized.  And  yet,  in  England,  where  we  say  they 
know  nothing  of  liberty,  a  gentleman  who  had  been 
arrested  and  detained  two  hours  in  a  back  parlor, 
had  obtained  damages  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand 
guineas.  He  said  that  an  order  had  been  issued  to 
kill  him,  as  he  was  descending  the  Mississippi,  and 
seize  his  property.  And  yet  they  could  only  have 
killed  his  person  if  he  had  been  formally  condemned 
for  treason.  Even  postoffices  have  been  broken  open 
and  robbed  of  his  papers,  in  the  Mississippi  terri 
tory;  even  an  indictment  was  about  to  be  laid  against 
the  postmaster.  He  had  always  taken  this  for  a 
felony ;  but  nothing  seemed  too  extravagant  to  be 
forgiven  by  the  amiable  morality  of  this  govern 
ment.  /'All  this,"  said  Burr,  '•  may  only  prove  that 
my  case  is  a  solitary  exception  from  the  general  rule; 
that  government  may  be  tender,  mild  and  humane 
to  every  one  but  me.  If  so,  to  be  sure  it  is  of  little 
consequence  to  anybody  but  myself.  But  surely 
be  excused  if  I  complain  a  little  of  such  proceeding 


THE   INDICTMENT.  .    261 

Our  president  is  a  lawyer,  and  a  great  one  too. 
He  certainly  ought  to  know  what  it  is  that  consti 
tutes  a  war.  Six  months  ago  he  proclaimed  that 
there  was  a  civil  war.  And  yet  for  six  months  have 
they  been  hunting  for  it,  and  still  cannot  find  one 
spot  where  it  existed.  There  was,  to  be  sure,  a  most 
terrible  war  in  the  newspapers,  but  no  where  else. 
When  I  appeared  before  the  grand  jury  in  Kentucky 
they  had  no  charge  to  bring  against  me,  and  I  was 
consequently  dismissed.  When  I  appeared  for  a  sec 
ond  time,  before  a  grand  jury  in  Mississippi  terri 
tory,  there  was  no  one  to  appear  against  me;  and 
the  judge  even  told  the  United  States  attorney  that 
if  he  did  not  send  up  his  bill  before  the  grand  jury 
he  himself  would  proceed  to  name  as  many  of  the 
witnesses  as  he  could  and  bring  it  before  the  court. 
Still  there  was  no  proof  of  war.  At  length,  however, 
the  Spaniards  invaded  our  territory,  and  yet  there 
was  no  war.  But,  sir,  if  there  was  a  war,  certainly 
no  man  can  pretend  to  say  that  the  government  is 
able  to  find  it  out.  The  scene  to  which  they  have 
now  hunted  it  is  only  three  hundred  miles  -4iatant, 
and  still  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove  this  warA 

On  a  motion  to  commit  Colonel  Burr  on  the 
charge  of  high  treason,  the  course  intended  to  be 
pursued  by  the  prosecution  in  the  introduction  of 
evidence,  was  disclosed,  and  led  to  an  animated  dis 
cussion.  The  issues  to  be  tried  were  so  distinctly 
stated  in  this  debate  that  we  will  give  some  portions 


262  THE   INDICTMENT. 

of  it,  that  these  points  may  be  clearly  understood. 
There  was  objection  made  to  the  motion  because  the 
evidence  presented  would  necessarily  be  exparte, 
and  would  be  immediately  reproduced  by  the  news 
papers  with  all  manner  of  exaggeration,  which  would 
add  to  the  already  intense  excitement  to  the  preju 
dice  of  the  defense.  The  court  had  called  attention 
to  this  fact  as  an  objection  to  a  motion,  while  it  re 
luctantly  granted  it.  It  would  seem  that  as  the 
grand  jury  was  in  session,  waiting  to  hear  the  testi 
mony  and  present  their  indictment,  the  prosecution 
might  have  omitted  the  investigation  proposed  before 
the  open  court.  But  there  was  scant  courtesy  shown 
the  defense  throughout  the  trial. 

Mr.  Hay,  the  district  attorney,  said:  "He  felt 
the  full  force  of  the  objections  to  a  disclosure  of  the 
evidence  and  to  the  necessity  of  the  court's  declar 
ing  its  opinion  before  the  case  was  laid  before  a  jury ; 
but  those  considerations  must  yield  to  a  sense  of 
what  his  engagements  to  the  United  States  imperi 
ously  demanded  of  him ;  that  in  adducing  the  evi 
dence  he  should  observe  something  like  chronologi 
cal  order.  He  should  first  read  the  depositions  of 
the  witnesses  who  were  absent,  and  afterward  bring 
forward  those  who  were  present,  so  as  to  disclose  all 
the  events  as  they  successively  happened." 

Mr.  Wickham,  for  the  defense,  stated  that  there 
were  two  distinct  charges  against  Mr.  Burr.  "  The 
first  was  for  a  misdemeanor,  for  which  he  had  already 


THE   INDICTMENT.  263 

entered  into  recognizance  ;  the  second  was  a  charge 
of  high  treason  against  the  United  States,  which 
was  once  proposed  without  success,  and  is  now  again 
repeated.  On  this  charge  the  United  States  must 
substantiate  two  essential  points  :  First,  That  there 
was  an  overt  act  committed;  and,  2d,  That  Colonel 
Burr  was  concerned  in  it.  Everything  that  does 
not  bear  upon  these  points  is  of  course  inadmissible; 
the  course  therefore  laid  down  by  the  attorney  for 
the  United  States  is  obvioush^  improper.  He  pro 
poses  to  examine  his  witnesses  in  a  kind  of  chrono 
logical  order. 

"  Mr.  Burr  requires  that  the  evidence  should  be 
taken  in  strict  legal  order.  The  court  and  even  the 
opposite  counsel  will  see  the  propriety  of  observing 
this  order.  If  the  attorney  for  the  United  States 
has  affidavits  to  produce,  let  him  demonstrate  that 
they  have  a  right  to  produce  them.  We  first  call 
upon  him  .to  prove,  by  strict  legal  evidence,  that  an 
overt  act  of  treason  has  been  committed.  If  he 
cannot  establish  that  one  point,  all  the  evidence 
which  he  can  produce  is  nugatory  and  unavailing." 

Mr.  Hay  in  reply  said  :  "  The  two  charges  which 
are  brought  against  Aaron  Burr  are  naturally  and 
intim-ately  blended.  They  form  distinct  parts  of  one 
great  design.  What  that  great  design  was  in  all  its 
bearings  and  ramifications,  I  am  not  absolutely  cer 
tain  ;  but  I  have  conceived  that  before  Mexico  was 
invaded,  New  Orleans  was  to  be  taken.  How,  then, 


264  THE    IN'DKTMKNT. 

is  it  possible  to  separate  thc^c  two  great  allegations? 
This  monstrous  design  consists  of  two  great  plots, 
both  going  on  together,  and  both  so  strongly  con 
nected  that  accomplishing  the  one  is  preparatory  to 
accomplishing  the  other.  If  Aaron  Burr's  object 
was  to  plant  his  standard  in  Mexico,  he  was  first 
to  have  seized  the  shipping  and  banks  of  Xew  Or 
leans.  We  ask,  then,  how  can  we  separate,  line  by 
line  and  word  by  word,  the  evidence  produced  to 
prove  these  two  distinct  allegations?  " 

This  statement  of  the  district  attorney  is  the 
official  announcement  of  the  crimes  for  which  Aaron 
Burr  was  arraigned,  fftu  intended  capture  of  New 
Orleans,  a  city  of  the  United  States,  was  the  treason 
alleged,  and  his  intended  invasion  of  Mexico,  a  prov 
ince  of  a  friendly  nation,  was  the  misdemeanor.  It 
will  be  noticed  he  is  not  charged  with  any  intention 
of  dividing  the  Union  of  the  states  in  any  way,  and 
never  was  so  charged,  officially,  by  the  government. 
What  Burr  had  to  meet  at  his  trial  were  the  charges 
so  clearly  stated  by  the  district  attorne}T.  It  is  not 
necessary  at  this  day,  in  considering  Burr's  guilt  or 
innocence,  to  follow  the  attorneys  in  their  discus 
sion  of  the  legal  mode  of  presenting  the  evidence, 
but  rather  to  examine  the  facts  as  they  existed.  A 
man's  intentions,  when  not  declared,  must  be  gath 
ered  from  his  acts. 

Burr  never  declared  such  intention  ;  then  what 
did  he  do  to  justify  a  belief  that  he  entertained  such 


THE   INDICTMENT.  265 

intention?  At  the  time  he  was  arrested  he  was  de 
scending  the  Mississippi  river  with  ten  light-draught 
river  boats,  with  six  men  upon  each  boat,  sixty  men 
in  all.  Captain  Bissell,  commandant  at  Fort  Massac, 
certifies  that  there  were  no  arms,  ammunition,  or 
military  stores  of  any  kind,  upon  the  boats,  but  only 
the  appearance  of  a  party  going  to  market  was  pre 
sented.  The  president  reports  to  congress  that  Burr 
had  "about  ten  boats,  with  about  six  men  each,  and 
without  any  military  appearance."  This  is  the  only 
official  evidence  ever  presented  as  to  the  number  of 
men  in  Burr's  party,  and  is  indorsed  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  in  his  report  to  congress.  When  Burr's  party 
was  arrested,  by  Jefferson's  order,  at  Bayou  Pierre, 
in  Mississippi,  the  expedition  was  found  to  consist  of 
ten  boats  and  sixty  unarmed  men,  confirming  Cap 
tain  Bissell's  official  report. 

Whatever  men  may  have  been  led  to  believe  by 
the  clamor  and  excitement  existing,  and  the  wild  and 
wicked  rumors  put  in  circulation  at  the  time,  will  any 
man  of  common  understanding  and  fair  judgment  at 
the  present  day  believe  that  Burr  had  planned  and 
was  on  his  way  to  capture  New  Orleans,  seize  the  ship 
ping  and  plunder  the  banks,  as  a  preliminary  to  an 
invasion  of  Mexico?  And  that  is  precisely  what  the 
district  attorney  said  Burr  was  arraigned  and  to  be 
tried  for  at  .Richmond.  It  is  strange  that  a  whole 
people  could  be  so  deluded  as  to  be  made  to  believe 
so  ridiculous  a  proposition,  but  stranger  still  that 


266  THE   INDICTMENT. 

grave  and  able  lawyers,  knowing  all  the  facts  fully, 
should  seriously  attempt  to  convict  Burr  of  the  crimes 
charged,  with  only  such  evidence  as  they  possessed. 

We  are  referring  now  to  the  charges  upon  which 
Burr  was  brought  to  trial.  There  were  hundreds  of 
other  charges  and  rumors  and  surmises  floating 
through  the  land  and  influencing  men's  judgments, 
too  unsubstantial  to  boar  legal  scrutiny,  and  that 
vanished  like  the  mist  before  the  morning  sun  when 
investigated.  And  yet  it  was  upon  these  wild  and 
reckless  rumors  that  Burr  was  condemned  by  the 
public  voice  of  that  day,  and  a  prejudice  created 
which  still  continues.  But  in  spite  of  all  this  preju 
dice,  when  the  government  came  to  prosecute  Burr, 
the  only  charge  they  then  were  able  to  make  was 
the  ridiculous  one  that  he  with  sixty  unarmed  fol 
lowers  was  about  to  capture  a  city  of  nine  thousand 
people,  protected  by  an  armed  fleet  of  vessels  and 
one  thousand  trained  soldiers.  And  this  absurdity 
has  been  believed  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  and 
may  still  be  cherished  a  hundred  years  hence. 

John  Randolph,  of  Eoanoke,  the  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury,  on  the  24th  of  June  returned  two  in 
dictments  against  Burr,  one  for  treason,  the  other  for 
misdemeanor.  Indictments  for  treason  were  also 
returned  against  United  States  Senator  Dayton,  of 
New  Jersey;  United  States  Senator  John  Smith,  of 
Ohio;  Harman  Blennerhassett  and  Comfort  Tyler, 
of  Virginia;  Israel  Smith,  of  New  York,  and  Davis 


THE   INDICTMENT.  267 

Floyd,  of  Indiana,  for  no  other  reason  as  it  seemed 
than  that  they  were  friends  of  Aaron  Burr. 

On  the  30th  of  June  the  court  took  a  recess  to 
the  3rd  day  of  August,  and  because  of  the  miserable 
condition  of  the  county  jail,  and  upon  the  tender  by 
the  governor  and  state  council,  of  the  third  story  of 
the  "penitentiary  house"  for  the  use  of  Colonel 
Burr  during  the  recess  of  the  court,  the  chief  justice 
made  an  order  that  the  offer  be  accepted.  Conse 
quently  Burr  was  in  due  time  removed  to  the  third 
story  of  the  penitentiary,  where  large  and  commo 
dious  rooms  had  been  prepared  for  his  reception, 
and  where  he  remained  until  the  court  resumed  its 
sessions.  This  proceeding  filled  the  president  with 
great  disgust.  He  wrote  to  the  district  attorney  as 
cribing  it  to  party  feeling  on  the  part  of  Judge  Mar 
shall,  and  said:  "But  to  what  a  state  will  our  law 
be  reduced  by  party  feeling  in  those  who  adminis 
ter  it  f  Why  do  not  Blennerhassett,  Dayton,  and  the 
rest  demand  private  and  comfortable  lodgings  ?  In 
a  country  where  an  equal  application  of  the  law  to 
every  condition  of  man  is  fundamental,  how  could  it 
be  denied  to  them  ?  How  can  it  even  be  denied  to 
the  most  degraded  malefactor?  " 

But  Jefferson  had  other  sources  of  annoyance 
growing  out  of  Burr's  treatment  at  Kichmend.  The 
fact  that  he  had  been  growing  in  favor  with  the  peo 
ple  of  that  city  ever  since  his  arrival  among  them 
was  bitterly  resented  by  the  president.  And  these 


2t>8  THE   INDICTMENT. 

friends  visited  him  in  his  pleasant  apartments  in  the 
penitentiary,  in  increasing  numbers,  on  some  days 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  levee.  He  was  in 
constant  receipt  of  presents,  of  fruits  and  delicacies 
of  every  variety  and  from  the  best  families  of  the 
city.  Toward  the  end  of  this  "confinement,"  he  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  his  daughter,  saying  she  was 
coming  to  visit  him.  He  wrote  her  in  reply,  "I 
want  an  independent  and  discerning  witness  to  my 
conduct  and  to  that  of  the  government.  The  scenes 
which  have  passed  and  those  about  to  be  transacted 
will  exceed  all  reasonable  credibility,  and  will  here 
after  be  deemed  fables,  unless  attested  by  very  high 
authority.  I  repeat  what  has  heretofore  been  writ 
ten,  that  I  should  never  invite  any  one,  much  less 
those  dear  to  me,  to  witness  my  disgrace.  I  may  be 
immured,  chained,  murdered  in  legal  form,  but  I 
cannot  be  humiliated  or  disgraced.  If  absent,  you 
will  suffer  great  solicitude.  In  my  presence  you  will 
feel  none,  whatever  may  be  the  malice  or  the  power 
of  my  enemies,  and  in  both  they  abound."  He 
adds:  "I  am  informed  that  some  good-natured  peo 
ple  here  have  provided  you  a  house,  and  furnished 
it,  a  few  steps  from  my  town  house.  I  had  also  made 
a  temporary  provision  for  you  in  my  town  house 
(city  jail),  whither  I  shall  remove  on  Sunday;  but 
I  will  not,  if  I  can  possibly  avoid  it,  move  before 
your  arrival,  having  a  great  desire  to  receive  you  in 
this  mansion  (the  penitentiary).  Pray,  therefore, 


THE    INDICTMENT.  269 

drive  directly  out  here.  You  may  get  admission  at 
any  time  from  four  in  the  morning  till  ten  at  night." 
Burr's  feeling  respecting  the  proceedings  at  his 
trial  can~best^be  learned  Irom  his  correspoTrdenceX 
with  h faTTfl.!! g-h tftrTfiT-whfHqfl- JiB^wrnta  regularly  11  n ti  1  ^(^ 
her  arrival  in  Richmond.  On  the  15th  of  May  he  / 
teHsTior  :  ""Respecting  the  approaching  investigation 
I  can  communicate  nothing  new.  The  grand  jury 
is  composed  of  twenty  democrats  and  four  federal 
ists.  Among  the  former  is  W.  C.  Nicholas,  my  vin 
dictive  and  avowed  personal  enemy  —  the  most  so 
that  could  be  found  in  this  state  (Virginia).  The 
most  indefatigable  industry  is  used  by  the  agents  of 
government,  and  they  have  money  at  command  with 
out  stint.  If  I  were  possessed  of  the  same  means,  I 
could  not  only  foil  the  prosecutors,  but  render  them 
ridiculous  and  infamous.  The  democratic  papers 
teem  with  abuse  against  me  and  my  counsel,  and 
even  against  the  chief  justice.  Nothing  is  left  un 
done  or  unsaid  which  can  tend  to  prejudice  the  public 
mind,  and  produce  a  conviction  without  evidence. 
The  machinations  of  this  description  which  were 
used  against  Moreau  in  France  were  treated  in  this 
country  with  indignation.  They  practice  against 
me  in  a  still  more  impudent  degree,  not  only  with 
impunity  but  with  applause ;  and  the  authors  and 
abettors  suppose,  with  reason,  that  they  are  acquir 
ing  favor  with  the  administration."  On  June  2d  he 
says:  "Still  waiting  for  Wilkinson,  and  no  certain 


270  THE  INDICTMENT. 

accounts  of  his  approach.  The  grand  jury,  the  wit 
nesses,  and  the  country  grow  impatient.  It  is  an 
ungracious  thing,  and  so  deemed,  after  having  been 
for  six  months  held  as  a  traitor;  after  directing  that 
Burr  and  his  followers  should  be  attacked,  put  to 
death,  and  their  property  seized  ;  after  all  the  viola 
tions  of  law  and  constitution  which  have  been  prac 
ticed,  that  government  should  now  say  it  has  no 
proof.  On  Saturday  morning,  the  18th,  General 
Wilkinson,  with  ten  or  eleven  witnesses  from  New 
Orleans,  arrived  in  Kichmond.  Four  bills  were  im 
mediately  delivered  to  the  grand  jury  against  Blen- 
nerhassett  and  Burr,  one  for  treason  and  one  for  mis 
demeanor  against  each.  The  examination  of  the  wit 
nesses  was  immediately  commenced.  They  had  gone 
through  thirty-two  last  evening.  There  are  about 
forty-six.  Ge.neral  Eaton  has  been  already  exam 
ined.  He  came  out  of  the  jury  room  in  such  rage  and 
agitation  that  he  shed  tears,  and  complained  bitterly 
that  he  had  been  questioned  as  if  he  were  a  villain. 

"  Poor  Bollman  is  placed  in  a  most  awkward  pre 
dicament.  Some  days  ago  Mr.  Hay,  the  district  at 
torney,  in  open  court  tendered  him  a  pardon  under 
the  great  seal  and  with  the  sign  manual  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  Bollman  refused  to  receive  it.  Hay  urged 
it  upon  him.  Bollman  said  no  man  could  force  on 
him  such  a  badge  of  infamy.  Hay  insisted  that  he 
was  a  pardoned  man,  whether  he  would  or  not." 

Under  date  of  June  the  24th,  he  says:     "  While 


THE   INDICTMENT.  271 

we  were  engaged  to-day  in  the  argument  of  the 
question  for  an  attachment  against  Wilkinson,  the 
grand  jury  came  into  court  with  bills  against  Blen- 
nerhassett  and  myself  for  treason  and  misdemeanor. 
Two  bills  against  each  of  usfc  These  indictments  for 
treason  are  founded  on  the  following  allegations : 
that  Colonel  Tyler,  with  twenty  or  thirty  men,  stop 
ped  at  Blennerhassett  Island  on  their  way  down  the 
Ohio;  that  though  these  men  were  not  armed,  and 
had  no  military  array  or  organization,  and  though 
they  did  neither  use  force  nor  threaten  it,  yet  hav 
ing  set  out  with  a  view  of  taking  temporary  posses 
sion  of  New  Orleans  on  their  way  to  Mexico,  that 
such  intent  was  treasonable,  and  therefore  a  war  was 
levied  on  Blennerhassett's  Island  by  construction ;  and 
that  though  Colonel  Burr  was  then  at  Frankfort  on  his 
way  to  Tennessee,  yet,  having  advised  the  measure, 
he  was,  by  construction  of  law,  present  on  the  island 
and  levied  war  there.  In  fact,  the  indictment  charges 
that  Aaron  Burr  was  on  that  day  present  at  the 
island,  though  not  a  man  of  the  jury  supposed  this 
to  be  true. 

"This  idea  of  constructive  war  is,  by  this  jury, 
carried  far  beyond  the  dictum  advanced  by  Judge 
Chace  in  the  case  of  Fries ;  for  Chace  laid  down  that 
the  actual  exertion  of  '  force,  in  a  hostile  or  traitor 
ous  manner,  was  indispensable  to  establish  treason.' 
Yet  the  opinions  of  Chace  in  this  case  were  com 
plained  of  by  the  whole  Eepublican  party,  and  con- 


272  THE   INDICTMENT. 

demned  by  all  the  lawyers  of  all  parties  in  Philadel 
phia  as  tending  to  introduce  the  odious  and  uncon 
stitutional  doctrine  of  constructive  treason." 

For  a  time  during  Burr's  trial  at  .Richmond  Mr. 
John  Barney  was  employed  by  Burr  as  his  amanu 
ensis.  Mr.  Barney  was  a  gentleman  of  respecta 
bility;  had  been  a  member  of  congress  from  Mary 
land,  and  lived  on  terms  of  close  intimacy  with  Burr 
for  the  time  he  was  employed  by  him.  From  Mr. 
Barney's  narrative  of  Burr's  prison  life  at  Kich- 
mond  we  give  this  extract : 

"  The  grand  jury  finding  a  true  bill,  he  was  forth 
with  removed  to  the  state  prison.  There  we  followed 
him;  he  received  us  in  his  usual  bland,  courteous 
manner;  apologized  for  our  being  introduced  into 
his  bed  chamber — his  drawing-room  being  then  de 
ranged  by  the  fitting  up  of  his  ice-house,  which  was 
in  fact  in  his  chimney  corner.  Iron  gratings  pre 
vented  his  egress,  admitting  free  circulation  of  light 
and  air.  I  felt  pride  and  took  pleasure  in  being  per 
mitted  to  become  his  amanuensis.  Each  day  as  I 
rode  along  the  streets  my  curricle  was  freighted 
with  cake,  confectionery,  flowers,  redolent  with  per 
fume,  wreathed  into  fancy  bouquets  of  endless  va 
riety.1'  All  to  be  delivered  to  Burr  from  admiring 
friends  of  the  city  of  Richmond.  Burr's  enemies 
were  confined  almost  altogether  to  the  government 
officials  or  politicians  supporting  and  seeking  favor 
from  the  president,  and  the  great  thoughtless  mass 


THE   INDICTMENT.  273 

of  the  people,  who  in  those   days  received  all  their 
ideas  from  the  newspapers. 

Among  the  stanch  friends  of  Burr,  in  New  York 
city,  was  the  Irving  family.  Dr.  Peter  Irving  was 
the  editor  of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  which  sustained 
and  defended  Burr  at  all  times ;  a  younger  brother  — 
Washington  Irving,  afterwards  the  distinguished  au 
thor  —  wrote  frequently  for  the  columns  of  the  Chron 
icle  in  support  of  Burr.  Among  Burr's  New  York 
friends  who  attended  his  trial  at  Richmond  was 
Washington  Irving,  a  deeply  interested  witness  of 
the  proceedings.  In  his  correspondence  with  friends 
at  home  and  elsewhere  he  gave  vivid  descriptions  of 
scenes  at  the  trial.  Some  of  these  letters  are  pre 
served  in  the  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Washington  Irv 
ing,''  and  will  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of  that 
work.  We  give  the  following  : 

To  JAMES  K.  PAULDING. —  Richmond,  June  22, 
1807.  u  I  can  appoint  no  certain  time  for  my  re 
turn,  as  it  depends  entirely  upon  the  trial.  Wilkin 
son,  you  will  observe,  has  arrived ;  the  bets  were 
against  Burr  that  he  would  abscond,  should  W.  come 
to  Richmond  ;  but  he  still  maintains  his  ground,  and 
still  enters  the  court  every  morning  with  the  same 
serene  and  placid  air  that  he  would  show  were  he 
brought  there  to  plead  another  man's  cause,  and  not 
his  own. 

"  The  lawyers  are  continually  entangling  each 
other  in  law  points,  motions  and  authentics,  and 


274  THE   INDICTMENT. 

have  been  so  crusty  to  each  other  that  there  is  a 
constant  sparring  going  on.  Wilkinson  is  now  be 
fore  the  grand  jury,  and  has  such  a  mighty  mass  of 
words  to  deliver  himself  of,  that  he  claims  at  least 
two  days  more  to  discharge  the  wondrous  cargo. 
The  jury  are  tired  enough  of  his  verbosity.  The 
first  interview  between  him  and  Burr  was  highly  in 
teresting,  and  I  secured  a  good  place  to  witness  it. 
Burr  was  seated  with  his  back  to  the  entrance, 
facing  the  judge,  and  conversing  with  one  of  his 
counsel.  Wilkinson  strutted  into  court  and  took  his 
stand  in  a  parallel  line  with  Burr  on  his  right  hand. 
Here  he  stood  for  a  moment,  swelling  like  a  turkey- 
cock  and  bracing  himself  up  for  the  encounter  of 
Burr's  eye.  The  latter  did  not  take  any  notice  of 
him  until  the  judge  directed  the  clerk  to  swear  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson  ;  at  the  mention  of  the  name  Burr 
turned  his  head,  looked  him  full  in  the  face,  with 
one  of  his  piercing  regards,  swept  his  eyes  over  his 
whole  person  from  head  to  foot,  as  if  to  scan  his 
dimensions,  and  then  coolly  resumed  his  former  po 
sition  and  went  on  conversing  with  his  counsel  as 
tranquilly  as  ever.  The  whole  look  was  over  in  an 
instant;  it  was  an  admirable  one.  There  was  no 
appearance  of  study  or  constraint  in  it ;  no  affecta 
tion  of  disdain  or  defiance ;  a  slight  expression  of 
contempt  played  over  his  countenance,  such  as  you 
would  show  on  regarding  any  person  to  whom  you 
were  indifferent,  but  whom  you  considered  mean  and 


THE   INDICTMENT.  275 

contemptible.     Wilkinson  did    not  remain  in  court 
many  minutes." 

We  subjoin  a  letter  written  by  Washington  Irv 
ing  to  Miss  Mary  Fairlie,  from  Washington,  D.  C., 
under  date  of  July  7,  1807: 

"  I  have  seen  traits  of  female  goodness  while  at 
Eichmond  that  have  sunk  deeply  in  my  heart  —  not 
displayed  in  one  or  two  individual  instances,  but 
frequently  and  generally  manifested  ;  I  allude  to  the 
case  of  Colonel  Burr.  Whatever  may  be  his  inno 
cence  or  guilt,  in  respect  to  the  charges  alleged 
against  him  (and  God  knows  I  do  not  pretend  to  de 
cide  thereon),  his  situation  is  such  as  should  appeal 
eloquently  to  the  feelings  of  every  generous  bosom. 
Sorry  am  I  to  say,  the  reverse  has  been  the  fact  — 
fallen,  proscribed,  prejudged,  the  cup  of  bitterness 
has  been  administered  to  him  with  an  unsparing 
hand.  It  has  almost  been  considered  as  culpable  to 
evince  towards  him  the  least  sympathy  or  support; 
and  many  a  hollow-hearted  caitiff  have  I  seen,  who 
basked  in  the  sunshine  of  his  bounty  when  in  power, 
who  now  skulked  from  his  side,  and  even  mingled 
among  the  most  clamorous  of  his  enemies.  The 
ladies  alone  have  felt,  or  at  least  had  candor  and  in 
dependence  sufficient  to  express  those  feelings  which 
do  honor  to  humanity.  They  have  been  uniform  in 
their  expressions  of  compassion  for  his  misfortunes, 
and  a  hope  for  his  acquittal ;  not  a  lady,  I  believe,  in 
Richmond,  whatever  may  be  her  husband's  senti- 


276  THE   INDICTMENT. 

ments  on  the  subject,  who  would  not  rejoice  at  see 
ing  Colonel  Burr  at  liberty.  It  may  be  said  that 
Colonel  Burr  has  ever  been  a  favorite  with  the  sex; 
but  I  am  not  inclined  to  account  for  it  in  so  illiberal 
a  manner ;  it  results  from  that  merciful  and  heavenly 
disposition  implanted  in  the  female  bosom,  which 
ever  inclines  in  favor  of  the  accused  and  the  unfortu 
nate.  You  will  smile  at  the  high  strain  in  which  I 
have  indulged;  believe  me,  it  is  because  I  feel  it; 
and  I  love  your  sex  ten  times  better  than  ever.  The 
last  time  I  saw  Burr  was  the  day  before  I  left  Rich 
mond.  He  was  then  in  the  penitentiary,  a  kind  of 
state  prison.  The  only  reason  given  for  immuring 
him  in  this  abode  of  thieves,  cut-throats,  and  incen 
diaries,  was  that  it  would  save  the  United  States  a 
couple  of  hundred  dollars  (the  charge  of  guarding 
him  at  his  lodgings),  and  it  would  insure  the  security 
of  his  person.  This  building  stands  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  town,  situated  in  a  solitary  place 
among  the  hills.  It  will  prevent  his  counsel  from 
being  as  much  with  him  as  they  deemed  necessary. 
I  found  great  difficulty  in  gaining  admission  to  him 
for  a  few  moments.  The  keeper  had  orders  to  admit 
none  but  his  counsel  and  his  witnesses — strange 
measures  these  !  That  it  is  not  sufficient  that  a  man 
against  whom  no  certainty  of  crime  is  proved,  should 
be  confined  by  bolts  and  bars,  and  many  walls,  in  a 
criminal  prison ;  but  he  is  likewise  to  be  cut  off  from 
all  intercourse  with  society,  deprived  of  all  the  kind 


THE   INDICTMENT.  277 

offices  of  friendship,  and  made  to  suffer  all  the  pen 
alties  and  deprivations  of  a  condemned  criminal.  I 
was  permitted  to  enter  for  a  few  moments  as  a  spe 
cial  favor,  contrary  to  orders.  Burr  seemed  in  lower 
spirits  than  formerly  ;  he  was  composed  and  collected 
as  usual ;  but  there  was  not  the  same  cheerfulness 
that  I  have  hitherto  remarked.^  He  said  it  was  with 
difficulty  his  very  servant  was  allowed  occasionally 
to  see  him;  he  had  a  bad  cold,  which  I  suppose 
was  occasioned  by  the  dampness  of  his  chamber, 
which  had  lately  been  whitewashed.  I  bid  him  fare 
well  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  he  expressed  with  pecu 
liar  warmth  and  feeling  his  sense  of  the  interest  I  had 
taken  in  his  fate.  I  never  felt  in  a  more  melancholy 
mood  than  when  I  rode  from  his  solitary  prison. 
Such  is  the  last  interview  1  had  with  poor  Burr,  and 
I  shall  never  forget  it.  I  have  written  myself  into 
a  sorrowful  kind  of  a  mood,  so  I  will  at  once  desist, 
begging  you  to  receive  this  letter  with  indulgence, 
and  regard  with  an  eye  of  Christian  charity  its 
many  imperfections." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 


A  Jury  of  Enemies  — Subpu-na  for  Jefferson  —  The  President  Inter 
feres  —  Public  Money  Used  —  The  Trial  Begun  —  Instruction  of 
Judge  Marshall  — Jury  Returns  Verdict  — Not  Quilty  —  Misde 
meanor  Trial  —  Acquittal  —  Jefferson  Angry  —  Denounces  the 
Judge  —  Pursues  Burr  into  Exile. 


The  first  business  on  the  reassembling  of  the 
court  was  securing  the  trial  jury.  This  was  serious 
work,  for  the  marshal  would  not  intentionally  sum 
mon  any  one  for  a  juror  who  was  suspected  of  being 
friendly  to  Burr.  It  seemed  for  days  that  no  jury 
could  be  secured  ;  every  man  examined  had  formed 
and  expressed  an  opinion  that  the  prisoner  was 
guilty,  and,  as  many  said,  ought  to  be  hanged.  They 
generally  admitted  they  had  formed  this  opinion 
from  what  they  had  read  in  the  newspapers,  more 
particularly  the  published  statements  of  General  Wil 
kinson  and  "  General "  Eaton.  At  one  time  the 
court  and  counsel  were  in  despair,  and  it  was  only 
when  Burr  consented  to  accept  jurors  who  would 
have  been  excluded  under  a  strict  enforcement  of  the 
rules,  that  a  jury  was  at  length  secured.  The  state- 

(278) 


THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  279 

ments  made  by  most  of  those  selected  and  sworn 
upon  the  jury  would  scarcely  give  assurance  of  a  fair 
and  impartial  trial,  but  Burr  was  compelled  to  accept 
them  or  have  his  trial  indefinitely  delayed. 

Miles  Bott  —  Said,  "from  the  affidavits  of  Gen 
erals  Wilkinson  and  Eaton  my  opinion  has  been  com 
pletely  made  up  for  several  months  past." 

Mr.  Martin  —  "I  suppose  you  have  only  taken 
up  a  prejudice  on  the  supposition  that  the  facts  stated 
were  true.'' 

Mr.  Bott  —  "  I  have  gone  so  far  as  to  declare  Mr. 
Burr  ought  to  be  hanged." 

Colonel  Edward  Carrington  said  he  "had  formed 
an  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  views  of  Mr.  Burr,  but 
these  opinions  were  not  definite.  Some  had  said  that 
Mr.  Burr's  object  was  to  invade  the  Spanish  terri 
tories ;  others  that  it  was  to  dismember  the  Union. 
His  own  opinion  had  not  been  definitely  fixed. 

Hugh  Mercer  —  Said  "that  an  opinion  which  he 
had  for  some  time  past  entertained  of  the  character 
of  Mr.  Burr  was  unfriendly  to  a  strictly  impartial 
inquiry  into  his  case." 

Christopher  Anthony  —  Stated,  "he  was  in  court, 
the  other  day,  when  the  first  venire  was  investigated; 
that  it  would  be  extremely  unpleasant  to  serve  on 
the  jury;  and  that  his  general  opinion  had  been  pre 
cisely  the  same  that  had  disqualified  several  other 
gentlemen." 

John  M.  Sheppard  —  Said  :   "I  too  feel  myself  dis- 


280  THE   TRIAL   AND   VERDICT. 

qualified  for  passing  impartially  between  the  United 
States  and  Aaron  Burr.  From  the  documents  I  have 
seen,  particularly  the  depositions  of  Generals  Wil 
kinson  and  Eaton,  I  have  believed,  and  do  still  be 
lieve,  that  his  intentions  were  hostile  to  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the  United  States.  In  short,  that  he  had 
intended  to  subvert  the  government  of  the  United 
States." 

These  men  constituted  nearly  one  half  of  the  jury 
by  which  Burr  was  to  be  tried;  of  the  remaining 
seven  members  only  two  declared  they  had  formed 
or  expressed  no  opinion.  But  so  confident  was  Burr 
that  the  government  could  prove  no  criminal  con 
duct  against  him,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  be  tried  by  a 
jury  of  his  enemies. 

A  motion  was  made  that  a  subpoena  duces  tecum 
be  issued  to  the  president,  requiring  him  to  furnish 
certain  papers  necessary  for  the  prisoner's  defense. 
These  included  a  letter  from  General  Wilkinson  to 
the  president,  and  the  orders  issued  by  the  govern 
ment  to  the  army  and  navy  during  the  recent  excite 
ment.  This  motion  was  debated  for  several  days, 
the  prosecution  fighting  it  with  vehemence.  The 
court  decided  the  subpoena  should  issue.  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  who  was  writing  almost  daily  to  the  district  at 
torney,  giving  directions  and  managing  the  prosecu 
tion,  was  greatly  annoyed  at  this  decision,  and  wrote 
the  district  attorney,  saying:  "Shall  we  move  to 
commit  Luther  Martin  as  particeps  criminis  with 


THE   TRIAL   AND   VERDICT.  281 


Burr?  Gray  ball  will  fix  upon  him  misprision  of  trea 
son  at  least,  and,  at  any  rate,  his  evidence  will  put 
down  this  unprincipled  and  impudent  Federal  bull 
dog,  and  add  another  proof  that  the  most  clamorous 
defenders  of  Burr  are  all  his  accomplices." 

Jefferson  only  in  part  complied  with  this  order 
of  the  court.  He  furnished  a  cop}7  of  the  letter  to 
the  district  attorney,  with  instructions  to  -withhold 
certain  portions  of  it,  and  these  were  the  portions 
Burr  deemed  the  most  important  to  his  defense. 
Jefferson  was  not  willing  he  should  have  a  fair  trial, 
and  to  prevent  this  defied  the  order  of  the  court. 
Luther  Martin  properly  characterized  this  act  of  the 
president  as  follows  :  "  And  would  the  president  of 
the  United  States,  who  has  raised  all  this  absurd 
clamor,  pretend  to  keep  back  the  papers  which  are 
wanted  for  this  trial,  where  life  itself  is  at  stake  ? 
It  is  a  sacred  principle,  that  in  all  such  cases  the  ac 
cused  has  a  right  to  all  the  evidence  which  is  neces 
sary  for  his  defense:  and  whoever  withholds,  will 
fully,  information  that  would  save  the  life  of  a  per 
son  charged  with  a  capital  offense  is  substantially  a 
murderer,  and  so  recorded  in  the  register  of  heaven.!^. 

This  action  of  the  president  also  shows  the  per 
sonal  interest  he  took  in  the  conviction  of  the  pris 
oner.  It  shows  who  was  the  real  prosecutor,  and  who 
it  was  who  inspired  the  eloquence  and  zeal  of  those 
he  had  employed  to  conduct  the  case.  We  say  those 
he  had  employed,  for  Mr.  Jefferson  admitted  he  had 


282  THE   TRIAL   AND    VERDICT. 

taken  nearly  twelve  thousand  dollars  of  public  money 
to  be  used  in  this  prosecution,  an  act  that  John  Ean- 
dolph  denounced  upon  the  floor  of  congress  as  one 
that  no  other  president  would  have  dared  to  commit. 

Jefferson  made  two  reports  to  congress  giving  the 
amounts  of  public  money  expended  by  himself  in 
the  prosecution  of  Burr.  The  first  is  a  special  mes 
sage,  dated  January  8,  1808,  in  which  he  says : 

"  I  now  render  to  congress  the  account  of  the  fund 
established  for  defraying  the  contingent  expenses  of 
government  for  the  year  1807.  Of  the  sum  of  $18,- 
012.50,  which  remained  unexpended  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1806,  $8,731.11  have  been  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  attorney-general  of  the  United  States, 
to  enable  him  to  defray  sundry  expenses  incident  to 
the  prosecution  of  Aaron  Burr  and  his  accomplices 
for  treason  and  misdemeanors  alleged  to  have  been 
committed  by  them,  and  the  unexpended  balance  of 
$9,275.39,  is  now  carried  according  to  law  to  the  credit 
of  the  surplus  fund." 

It  seems  there  were  some  delayed  payments  to 
make,  for  on  January  13,  1809,  he  reports  the  pay 
ment  of  "  $2,000,  to  pay  expenses  incident  to  the 
prosecution  of  Aaron  Burr  and  his  accomplices "  ; 
and,  also,  "  $990.00,  paid  to  the  order  of  Governor 
Williams  on  the  same  account."  Thus  in  his  two 
reports  he  acknowledges  the  expenditure  of  $11,- 
721.11,  in  "  prosecuting  Burr  and  his  accomplices," 
paid  from  public  money  and  not  appropriated  by 


THE   TRIAL  AND   VERDICT.  283 

congress  for  that  purpose.  These  payments  were 
denounced  at  the  time,  as  being  made  without  pre 
cedent  or  the  sanction  of  law.  The  law  did  provide 
for  the  payment  of  all  proper  expenses  in  the  prose 
cution  of  criminals ;  under  this  law  all  lawful  ex 
penses  in  the  prosecution  of  Burr  were  audited,  and 
paid  in  full.  Those  paid  by  Jefferson,  with  public 
money,  were  necessarily  expenses  not  authorized  by 
law. 

Mr.  Botts,  one  of  Burr's  counsel,  in  an  argument 
refers  to  this  presidential  interference,  and  says : 
"  But  I  do  not  mean  to  admit  that  the  president  is 
bound  or  has  even  a  right  to  interfere  in  any  prosecu 
tion  whatever.  On  the  contrary,  I  insist  that  the 
president's  interference  with  the  prosecution  is  im 
proper,  illegal,  and  unconstitutional.  From  the  very 
moment  that  a  case  enters  into  the  pale  of  the  judic 
iary,  he  ought  to  avoid  all  interference  with  it.  What 
law  gives  him  the  power?  The  constitution  gives 
him  the  power  to  repel  invasions  and  suppress  insur 
rections,  It  gives  power  to  congress  to  do  so ;  and 
he  is  to  execute  the  laws  made  by  congress  and  made 
for  these  purposes.  He  is,  therefore,  to  suppress  in 
surrections,  but  the  very  moment  that  an  insurgent  \ 
is  taken  before  the  judiciary,  the  two  departments 
become  distinct,  and  he  has  no  right  to  interfere ;  if 
he  do  interfere  he  violates  the  constitution.  He  has 
a  pardoning  power  which  is  utterly  incompatible 
with  any  interference  with  the  prosecuting  power ; 


284  THE   TRIAL   AND   VERDICT. 

and  zeal  to  conduct  it  is  naturally  begotten  and  in 
creased  with  those  who  take  part  in  a  prosecution. 
If  the  president  enter  the  lists  with  the  attorney  of 
the  United  States,  if  %he  direct  a  prosecution  to  be 
conducted,  he  becomes  anxious  and  decisively  zealous 
of  the  conviction  ;  and  this  anxiety  and  this  zeal  af 
fect  his  ability  to  judge  of  the  propriety  of  pardon 
ing.  He  makes  himself  as  unfit  to  judge  of  and 
dispense  mercy  as  the  attorney  who  prosecutes. 

"  There  is  a  great  inequality  between  the  prose 
cution  and  the  defense  when  the  president  affords 
executive  means  to  carry  on  the  former,  whereas, 
justice  requires  that  there  should  be  an  equality  be 
tween  them.  Is  not  the  interest  of  the  public  en 
gaged  in  defending  as  well  as  prosecuting?  Is  it  not 
as  much  for  the  public  good  that  innocence  should 
be  protected  as  that  guilt  should  be  punished  ?  The 
law  arms  the  prosecutor  in  this  country  with  ample 
means  to  carry  into  effect  the  prosecution.  His 
means  are  equal  to  those  exercised  in  England.  Why 
should  not  congress  interfere  as  well  as  the  presi 
dent  ?  The  three  departments  of  the  government  are 
separate  and  distinct  by  the  constitution.  None  of 
them  should  go  beyond  its  constitutional  limits  by 
encroaching  on  the  other ;  and  it  is  particularly  es 
sential  to  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  people 
that  the  judiciary  should  be  independent.1' 

The  president  in  this  case  not  only  used  public 
money  to  employ  counsel  and  procure  evidence,  but 


THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  285 

he  gave  direction  about  tbe  management  of  the  case, 
and,  in  one  instance,  at  least,  prepared  an  argument 
to  be  used  by  the  district  attorney  before  the  court. 
He  privately  examined  witnesses  who  it  was  expected 
would  be  used  at  the  trial,  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
Dr.  Bollman,  sought  to  entrap  them  into  making 
statements  detrimental  to  Burr.  He  even  went  so 
far  as  to  make  out  a  pardon  for  Bollman,  which  was 
to  be  given  him  only  on  condition  that  he  would 
swear  to  a  particular  statement. 

The  trial  was  begun,  and  the  prosecution  pre 
sented  all  the  evidence  it  had  to  sustain  the  charge 
in  the  indictment;  but  not  a  single  overt  act  consti 
tuting  treason  had  been  shown,  and  until  this  was 
done,  the  court  ruled  that  no  collateral  evidence  was 
admissible.  Upon  this  point  a  debate  began  which 
lasted  nine  days,  and  Avhich  has  been  declared  to  be 
"  the  finest  display  of  legal  knowledge  and  ability  of 
which  the  history  of  the  American  bar  can  boast." 
It  turned  upon  the  point  whether  until  the  fact  that 
a  crime  had  been  committed  is  proved,  anything 
may  be  heard  respecting  the  guilty  intentions  of  the 
accused.  It  was  upon  this  occasion  that  Wirt  deliv 
ered  that  celebrated  speech,  an  extract  from  which 
passed  into  the  school  books  of  the  country,  and  did 
more  to  injure  the  name  of  Burr  than  anything  else 
ever  published.  It  was  pure  declamation,  founded 
solely  in  the  imagination  of  the  distinguished  lawyer, 
and  in  direct  contrast  with  the  truth. 


286  THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

The  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  was  learned 
and  elaborate,  occupying  three  hours  in  its  delivery. 
It  fully  sustained  the  contention  of  the  defense,  that 
no  act  of  treason  had  been  proved.  It  opens  with  a 
compliment  to  the  counsel  on  both  sides  of  the  case. 
He  says : 

"  A  degree  of  eloquence  seldom  displayed  on  any 
occasion  has  embellished  a  solidity  of  argument  and 
a  depth  of  research  by  which  the  court  has  been 
greatly  aided  in  forming  the  opinion  it  is  about  to 
deliver.  The  testimony  adduced  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  to  prove  the  overt  act  laid  in  the  in 
dictment  having  shown,  and  the  attorney  for  the 
United  States  having  admitted,  that  the  prisoner  was 
not  present  when  that  act,  whatever  may  be  its  char 
acter,  was  committed,  and  there  being  no  reason  to 
doubt  but  that  he  was  at  a  great  distance  and  in  a 
different  state,  it  is  objected  to  the  testimony  offered 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to  connect  him  with 
those  who  committed  the  overt  act,  that  such  testi 
mony  is  totally  irrelevant,  and  must,  therefore,  be 
rejected. 

"  The  arguments  in  support  of  this  motion  respect 
in  part  the  merits  of  the  case  as  it  may  be  supposed 
to  stand  independent  of  the  pleadings,  and  in  part  as 
exhibited  by  the  pleadings. 

"  On  the  first  division  of  the  subject  two  points 
are  made :  1st.  That  conformably  to  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  no  man  can  be  convicted 


THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  287 

of  treason  who  is  not  present  when  the  war  was 
levied.  2d.  That  if  this  construction  be  erroneous, 
no  testimony  can  be  received  to  charge  one  man 
with  tbfe  overt  acts  of  others  until  those  overt  acts 
asjaid  in  the  indictment  be  proved  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  the  court. 

'•  The  question  which  arises  on  the  construction 
of  the  constitution,  in  every  point  of  view  in  which 
it  can  be  contemplated,  is  of  infinite  moment  to  the 
people  of  this  country  and  to  their  government,  and 
requires  the  most  temperate  and  the  most  deliberate 
consideration.  'Treason  against  the  United  States 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them.'  " 

Judge  Marshall  then  proceeds  to  discuss  at  length 
the  meaning  of  the  words  "  levying  of  war"  and  who 
may  be  said  to  levy  it.  It  is  a  long,  elaborate  and 
learned  opinion;  .of  interest  to  men  of  the  legal  pro 
fession,  but  almost  unintelligible  to  the  general  pub 
lic.  We  give  only  its  conclusion.  He  says : 

"The  present  indictment  charges  the  prisoner 
with  levying  war  against  the  United  States,  and  al 
leges  an  overt  act  of  levying  war.  That  overt  act 
must  be  proved,  according  to  the  mandates  of  the 
constitution  and  of  the  act  of  congress,  by  two  wit 
nesses.  IT  IS  NOT  PROVED  BY  A  SINGLE  WITNESS. 
The  presence  of  the  accused  has  been  stated  to  be  an 
essential  component  part  of  the  overt  act  in  this  in 
dictment,  unless  the  common  law  principle  respect 
ing  accessories  should  render  it  unnecessary ;  and 


288  THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

there  is  not  only  no  witness  who  has  proved  his 
actual  or  legal  presence,  but  the  fact  of  his  absence 
is  not  controverted. 

"  The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  offer  to  give  in 
evidence  subsequent  transactions  at  a  different  place 
and  in  a  different  state,  in  order  to  prove  —  what? 
The  overt  act  in  the  indictment?  that  the  prisoner 
was  one  of  those  who  assembled  at  Blennerhassett's 
Island?  No;  that  is  not  alleged.  It  is  well  known 
that  such  testimony  is  not  competent  to  establish 
such  a  fact.  The  constitution  and  law  require  that 
the  fact  should  be  established  by  two  witnesses ;  not 
by  the  establishment  of  other  facts  from  which  the 
jury  might  reason  to  this  fact.  The  testimony,  then, 
is  not  relevant.  If  it  can  be  introduced,  it  is  only  in 
the  character  of  corroborative  or  confirmatory  testi 
mony,  after  the  overt  act  has  been  proved  by  two 
witnesses  in  such  manner  that  the  question  of  fact 
ought  to  be  left  with  the  jury. 

"The  conclusion,  that  in  this  state  of  things  no 
testimony  can  be  admissible,  is  so  inevitable  that  the 
counsel  for  the  United  States  could  not  resist  it.  I  do 
not  understand  them  to  deny  that,  if  the  overt  act  be 
not  proved  by  two  witnesses  so  as  to  be  submitted 
to  the  jury,  all  other  testimony  must  be  irrelevant; 
because  no  other  testimony  can  prove  the  act. 

"Now  an  assemblage  on  Blennerhassett's  Island 
is  proved  by  the  requisite  number  of  witnessess  ;  and 
the  court  might  submit  it  to  the  jury  whether  that 


THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  289 

assemblage  amounted  to  a  levying  of  war ;  but  the 
presence  of  the  accused  at  that  assemblage  being  no 
where  alleged  except  in  the  indictment,  the  overt 
act  is  not  proved  by  a  single  witness;  and  of  con 
sequence  all  other  testimony  must  be  irrelevant. 

u  The  only  difference  between  this  motion  as  made 
and  the  motion  in  the  form  which  the  counsel  for 
the  United  States  would  admit  to  be  regular  is  this: 
it  is  now  general  for  the  rejection  of  all  testimony. 
It  might  be  particular  with  respect  to  each  witness  as 
adduced.  But  can  this  be  wished?  or  can  it  be 
deemed  necessary?  If  enough  be  proved  to  show 
that  the  indictment  cannot  be  supported,  and  that 
no  testimony,  unless  it  be  of  that  description  which 
the  attorney  for  the  United  Stated  declares  himself 
not  to  possess,  can  be  relevant,  why  should  a  ques 
tion  be  taken  on  each  witness? 

"  The  arguments  on  both  sides  have  been  intently 
and  deliberately  considered.  Those  which  could  not 
be  noticed  —  since  to  notice  every  argument  and  au 
thority  would  swell  this  opinion  to  a  volume,  have 
not  been  disregarded.  The  result  of  the  whole  is  a 
conviction,  as  complete  as  the  mind  of  the  court  is 
capable  of  receiving  on  a  complex  subject,  that  the 
motion  must  prevail. 

"  This  opinion  does  not  comprehend  the  proof  of 
two  witnesses  that  the  meeting  on  Blennerhassett's 
Island  was  procured  by  the  prisoner.  On  that  point 
the  court  for  the  present  withholds  its  opinion  for 


290  THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

reasons  which  have  been  already  assigned;  and  as  it 
is  understood  from  the  statements  made  on  the  part 
of  the  prosecution  that  no  such  testimony  exists.  If 
there  be  such,  let  it  be  offered  ;  and  the  court  will  de 
cide  upon  it." 

The  case  was  then  submitted  to  the  jury,  with 
the  instruction  that  they  apply  the  law  to  the  facts, 
and  find  a  verdict  of  guilty  or  not  guilty,  as  their 
own  consciences  may  direct.  The  court  adjourned 
until  the  next  day,  when  Mr.  Hay  informed  the 
court  that  he  had  nothing  to  offer  to  the  jury  of  evi 
dence  or  argument,  that  he  had  examined  the  opin 
ion  of  the  court,  and  must  leave  the  case  with  the 

JU1T- 

The  jury  accordingly  retired  and  in  a  short  time 
returned  with  the  following  verdict :  "  We  of  the  jury 
say  that  Aaron  Burr  is  not  proved  to  be  guilty  under 
this  indictment  by  any  evidence  submitted  to  us. 
We,  therefore,  find  him  not  guilty."  This  verdict 
was  objected  to  by  Colonel  Burr  and  his  counsel  as 
unusual,  informal  and  irregular.  After  some  discus 
sion  the  court  decided  that  the  indorsement  on  the 
bill  should  remain,  but  that  the  entry  on  the  record 
should  be  "Nox  GUILTY." 

Preliminary  to  entering  upon  the  trial  under  the 
indictment  for  misdemeanor,  Mr.  Burr,  on  the  4th 
day  of  September,  renewed  his  application  for  the 
two  letters  from  General  Wilkinson  to  the  president 
of  the  United  States,  one  of  the  21st  of  October,  1806, 


THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  291 

the  other  of  the  12th  of  November  of  the  same  year, 
and  for  which  a  writ  of  subpoena  duces  tecum  had 
been  awarded.  He  said  the  president  was  in  con 
tempt,  and  he  had  a  right  to  demand  process  of  con 
tempt  against  him ;  but  as  it  would  be  unpleasant 
to  resort  to  such  process,  and  as  it  would  produce 
delay,  he  hoped  the  letters  would  be  produced.  It 
might,  perhaps,  suffice  to  produce  a  copy,  if  duly 
authenticated,  of  that  of  the  21st  of  October,  which 
was  said  to  be  lost  or  mislaid. 

As  to  the  letter  of  the  12th  of  November,  which 
was  alleged  tc  contain  confidential  communications 
from  the  general  to  the  president,  and  which  the 
district  attorney  had  expressed  a  willingness  to  pro 
duce,  except  those  parts  which  were  said  to  be  con 
fidential,  he  was  not  at  present  disposed  to  yield  to 
the  proposition.  He  has  reason  to  believe  that  the 
whole  letter  had  been  shown  to  others  to  injure  him ; 
and  as  the  whole  letter  had  been  used  against  him, 
the  whole  ought  to  be  produced. 

This  question  was  discussed  at  much  length  by 
the  counsel  on  each  side,  during  which  Mr.  Botts 
suggested  that,  as  the  letter  of  the  12th  of  Novem 
ber  was  in  possession  of  the  attorney  for  the  United 
States,  the  only  way  to  get  at  it,  if  he  persists  in  re 
fusing  it,  is  by  subpoena  duces  tecum  directed  to  Mr. 
Hay,  To  this  proposition  Mr.  Hay  strongly  ob 
jected.  He  said:  "There  are  two  passages  in  the 
letter  which  I  cannot  submit  to  public  inspection. 


292  THE   TRIAL  AND   VERDICT. 

I  do  not  know  that  they  can  be  extorted  from  me 
under  any  circumstances.  They  are  not  essential  to 
the  defense  of  the  accused.  The  gentleman  must 
know  that  the  letter  has  not  the  most  distant  bear 
ing  on  the  subject.  My  present  impressions  are 
that  I  would  sooner  submit  to  be  committed  than  to 
betray  this  trust." 

Mr.  Hay  further  said  :  "  These  two  passages  have, 
in  my  conscience,  no  connection  whatever  with  the 
accused  or  his  defense.  They  shall  not  be  exposed 
to  public  view  unless  extorted  by  the  power  of  the 
court.  I  do  not  know  that  even  that  would  do ;  be 
cause  I  may  submit  to  be  put  in  prison.  I  think 
them  irrelevant  and  improper  to  be  disclosed.  I  shall 
be  governed  only  by  my  own  view  of  what  is  correct." 

Mr.  Wickham  replied:  "As  the  counsel  on  the 
other  side  has  been  pleased  to  say  that  he  shall  be 
influenced  only  by  his  own  judgment  as  to  this  letter, 
it  only  remains  for  us,  after  such  a  defiance  from  him, 
to  refer  to  the  court  whether  it  will  direct  the  paper 
to  be  produced.  I  presume  this  refusal  must  be  at 
the  instance  of  General  Wilkinson  or  the  govern 
ment." 

Mr.  Hay  said  :  "  The  president,  who  certainly  has 
a  right  of  withholding  from  public  view  such  docu 
ments,  or  parts  of  documents,  as,  in  his  judgment, 
ought  not  to  be  disclosed,  has  expressly  authorized 
me  to  keep  back  such  parts  of  the  letter  as  I  may 
think  it  would  be  improper  to  communicate.  I, 


THE  TRIAL  AND  VERDICT.  293 

therefore,  withhold  those  parts  of  this  letter  which, 
in  my  own  judgment,  ought  not  to  be  made  public." 

The  subpoena  duces  tecum  was  served  on  Mr.  Hay, 
the  district  attorney,  who  acknowledged  he  had  pos 
session  of  the  letter.  Mr.  Hay  made  return  in  ac 
cordance  with  his  statement  above  —  he  would  dis 
close  portions  of  the  letter,  but  not  other  portions. 
The  defense  objected  to  this  return  and  moved  that 
the  case  be  continued  until  the  whole  letter  be  pro 
duced.  Upon  this  another  long  discussion  followed. 
The  court  decided  substantially  that  the  letter  in 
controversy  was  not  a  public  document ;  if  it  were, 
coming  from  the  general  of  the  army,  it  should  be 
on  file  in  the  war  department,  but  as  it  had  been 
received  and  retained  by  Mr.  Jefterson  as  a  private 
letter  to  himself,  as  a  private  individual,  he  could 
not  refuse  to  exhibit  the  whole  of  the  letter,  nor 
could  he  authorize  Mr.  Hay  to  make  such  refusal. 
If  the  letter,  then,  was  not  produced  when  demanded 
the  trial  would  be  continued  until  it  was  produced. 

In  the  meantime  a  jury  was  impanelled  and  the 
trial  commenced.  But  as  a  decision  of  the  judge, 
made  soon  after  the  proceedings  began,  excluded 
nearly  all  of  the  prosecutor's  evidence,  he  moved  the 
court  to  discharge  the  jury.  Burr  objected  and  de 
manded  a  verdict.  The  court  decided  that  the  jury 
could  not  at  that  stage  of  the  case  be  discharged 
without  mutual  consent.  The  jury  then  returned  a 
verdict  of  NOT  GUILTY. 


294  THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

This  ending  was  disastrous  to  the  hopes  of  Mr. 
Jefferson.  His  baffled  vengeance  wrought  him  up 
almost  into  a  state  of  frenzy.  He  denounced  Judge 
Marshall  "as  a  mountebank,  a  trickster,  a  corrupt 
judge  worthy  of  impeachment."  He  wrote  to  the 
district  attorney  to  preserve  the  evidence,  "  now 
more  important  than  ever,"  he  said,  thus  showing  he 
desired  the  conviction  of  Burr  to  acquit  himself  of 
precipitate  and  ridiculous  credulity  in  his  proclama 
tion  and  orders  against  him.  This  persecution,  mal 
icious  as  it  was,  is  undoubtedly  the  most  disgrace 
ful  chapter  in  the  life  of  Jefferson.  None  of  his  bio 
graphers,  so  far  as  we  know,  have  attempted  a  de 
fense  of  his  conduct  in  this  matter.  Tucker,  a  de 
voted  friend,  condemns  Jefferson  severely,  but  evi 
dently  with  much  regret.  Baldwin  is  more  em 
phatic.  He  says  the  interference  of  Jefferson  in  the 
trial  was  wholly  unauthorized  and  officious.  He 
admits  that  he  had  a  right  to  bring  Burr  to  trial  if 
he  thought  him  guilty,  for  that  would  be  the  duty  of 
the  executive. 

But  he  says:  "  After  the  court  took  cognizance 
of  the  case,  the  proceedings  belonged  to  the  judiciary 
department.  It  was  an  invasion  of  the  judiciary, 
and  a  most  dangerous  one,  for  the  president  to  inter 
fere  in  the  trial.  The  president  held  in  his  hand 
the  pardoning  power.  He  should  have  kept  himself 
aloof  from  the  public  excitement,  and  have  preserved 
a  judicial  impartiality,  in  order  to  exercise  that 


THE   TRIAL   AND   VERDICT.  .    295 

power,  in  case  he  was  called  upon  to  exert  it,  with 
out  prejudice.  He  should  not  have  been  closeted  with 
the  witnesses  of  the  government.  He  should  not 
have  been  the  prosecutor,  and  more  especially  such 
a  prosecutor,  carrying  zeal  to  intemperance,  and 
intemperance  to  the  rankest  injustice  and  coarsest 
criminations  of  the  court  and  others  connected  with 
the  case.  To  bring  executive  power  to  bear  upon 
a  prisoner,  to  let  loose  upon  his  head  the  influence 
of  the  patronage  and  the  placemen  of  the  govern 
ment,  was  to  revive  the  worst  judicial  scenes  of  the 
days  of  the  Tudors  and  the  Stuarts.  It  were  better 
that  any  criminal  escaped,  however  guilty,  than  that 
he  should  be  thus  convicted;  for  the  danger  of  im 
munity  to  crime,  from  the  example  of  a  malefactor's 
escape,  is  nothing  to  the  danger  of  destroying  the 
principle  of  personal  freedom,  for  which  all  law  was 
made." 

Burr  was  now  free  from  the  toils  of  the  law,  but 
he  was  not  yet  free  from  the  pursuit  and  persecution 
of  his  implacable  enemy.  Disgraced,  impoverished, 
friendless,  by  the  power  he  had  largely  created,  his 
adversary,  with  the  spirit  of  a  vampire,  still  followed 
him  into  what  was  worse  than  the  grave.  We  have 
not  space  to  follow  Burr  into  exile;  we  have  not 
heart  to  tell  how  the  long  arm  of  oppression  reached 
across  the  Atlantic  and  laid  its  heavy  hand  on  the 
fugitive.  It  were  shame  to  tell  how  American  min 
isters,  consuls,  and  all  obeying  the  behests  of  the 


296  THE   TRIAL  AND  VERDICT. 

administration,  dogged  the  footsteps  of  the  weary 
wanderer,  to  destroy  his  peace  and  degrade  his  name 
in  a  land  of  strangers.  It  was  most  shameful  dis 
grace  that  the  government  of  a  people,  loving  jus 
tice,  and  right,  and  fair  dealing,  as  the  Americans  do, 
demanded  of  a  British  monarch,  as  a  courtesy,  that 
he  should  drive  from  his  dominions  the  persecuted 
victim  of  our  own  president.  Such  outrage  was  per 
petrated  and  repeated  in  every  land  upon  which  the 
fugitive  foot  of  Aaron  Burr  presumed  to  tread.  It 
would  be  a  more  congenial  theme,  did  space  permit, 
to  tell  of  that  bold  spirit  which  no  persecution,  no 
suffering,  could  bend  or  break.  In  the  darkest  hour 
of  his  life,  when  ingratitude,  injustice  and  persecution 
assailed  him  on  every  side,  no  murmur  of  discontent 
was  ever  uttered  from  his  lips ;  no  word  of  complaint 
was  ever  written  by  his  hand. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  EVIDENCE. 


Truxtun  —  Vindication  of  Burr  —  Expedition  Dependent  on  War  —  No 
War,  No  Conquest  —  No  Talk  of  Disunion  —  The  Cipher  Letter 
Altered  —  Wilkinson's  Perjury  —  Randolph's  Exposure  —  The  Presi 
dent's  Indorsement  —  "  On  the  Honor  of  a  Soldier"  — Wilkinson 
Confesses  His  Guilt— His  Defense  of  Mexico  — Claims  Enormous 
Reward  —  Claim  Rejected. 


It  was  unfortunate  for  Burr  that  he  was  acquitted 
entirely  on  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution ;  that  none 
of  the  witnesses  he  had  gathered  for  his  defense  was 
heard.  The  testimony  of  the  witnesses  introduced 
on  the  part  of  the  government  was  published  far 
and  wide  by  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  with  the 
grossest  exaggerations,  and  the  cruelest  and  most 
unfounded  implications  against  Burr.  Everybody 
read  these  newspaper  reports,  while  no  word  of  con 
tradiction  or  explanation  ever  reached  them.  The 
public  judgment  was,  therefore,  formed  entirely  upon 
the  one-sided  and  exaggerated  statements  of  the 
government  witnesses.  Colonel  Burr  had  a  large 
array  of  witnesses  in  attendance  to  disprove  every 
charge  in  the  indictment,  and  to  impeach  some  of 

(297) 


298  THE   EVIDENCE. 

the  witnesses  who  appeared  against  him.  Not  one 
of  these  was  examined.  General  Jackson,  who  knew 
thoroughly  all  the  facts,  was  present  but  was  not 
heard.  Many  others  were  there  to  testify  on  behalf 
of  Burr,  especially  of  the  men  who  formed  his  party 
when  arrested.  It  was,  therefore,  unfortunate,  we 
think,  that  but  one  side  of  the  case  was  heard,  al 
though  that  side  failed  to  produce  any  evidence 
criminating  Burr. 

One  witness,  introduced  by  the  prosecution  fully 
acquitted  Burr  of  both  treason  and  misdemeanor, 
and  he  was  by  far  the  most  respectable  witness  intro 
duced;  the  newspapers  failed  to  report  him.  We 
will  do  so  now.  We  refer  to  Commodore  Truxtun, 
and  copy  the  report  made  by  Mr.  Eobertson,  the 
official  reporter  of  the  trial. 

Commodore  Truxtun  was  sworn,  and  testified  as 
follows : 

Mr.  Hay  —  "Were  you  present  when  the  court 
delivered  its  opinion?"  "I  was.  I  know  nothing  of 
overt  acts,  treasonable  designs  or  conversations,  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Burr." 

Here  Mr.  Hay,  the  attorney  of  the  United  States, 
seemed  to  doubt  whether  the  evidence  of  the  com 
modore  applied  to  this  charge,  and  to  be  indisposed 
to  examine  him. 

Mr.  Wickham  then  observed  that  he  would  put  two 
questions  to  him:  1st.  Whether  he  had  not  had  fre 
quent  and  considerable  conversations  with  Mr.  Burr 


THE    EVIDENCE.  299 

concerning  the  Mexican  expedition?  2d.  Whether 
in  any  of  those  conversations  he  ever  heard  him  say 
anything  of  a  treasonable  design? 

Mr.  Hay  objected  to  his  examination  at  this  time, 
and  Mr.  Wickham  insisted  on  it.  Mr.  Wirt  argued 
that  the  district  attorney  had  the  right  to  examine 
the  witness  or  not,  at  this  time,  as  he  thought  proper. 

Mr.  Hay  said  that,  on  reflection,  he  had  no  doubt 
that  the  testimony  of  Commodore  Truxtun  would 
have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  subject  now  before  the 
court,  when  connected  with  the  other  evidence  in 
the  cause ;  that  it  would  appear  that  there  was  an 
intimate  connection  between  the  two  projects,  the 
seizure  of  New  Orleans  and  the  attack  on  Mexico ; 
be  would,  therefore,  examine  him  now  and  propound 
this  question:  "Have  you  not  had  several  conver 
sations  with  the  accused  concerning  the  Mexican 
expedition?" 

Commodore  Truxtun — "About  the  beginning  of 
the  winter  of  1805-6,  Mr.  Burr  returned  from  the 
western  country  to  Philadelphia.  He  frequently,  in 
conversation  with  me,  mentioned  the  subject  of  spec 
ulations  in  western  lands,  opening  a  canal  and  build 
ing  a  bridge.  Those  things  were  not  interesting 
to  me  in  the  least,  and  I  did  not  pay  much  attention 
to  them.  Mr.  Burr  mentioned  to  me  that  the  gov 
ernment  was  weak,  and  he  wished  me  to  get  the  navy 
of  the  United  States  out  of  my  head ;  that  it  would 
dwindle  to  nothing;  and  that  he  had  something  to 


300  THE   EVIDENCE. 

propose  to  me  that  was  both  honorable  and  profita 
ble;  but  I  considered  this  as  nothing  more  than  an 
interest  in  his  land  speculations.  His  conversations 
were  repeated  frequently.  Some  time  in  July,  1806, 
he  told  me  that  he  wished  to  see  me  unwedded  from 
the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  not  to  think 
more  of  those  men  at  Washington ;  that  he  wished  to 
see  or  make  me  (I  do  not  recollect  which  of  those  two 
terms  he  used)  an  admiral;  that  he  contemplated 
an  expedition  to  Mexico,  in  the  event  of  a  war  with 
Spain,  which  he  thought  inevitable. 

"  He  asked  me  if  the  Havana  could  be  easily  taken 
in  the  event  of  a  war?  I  told  him  that  it  would  re 
quire  the  cooperation  of  a  naval  force.  Mr.  Burr 
observed  to  me  that  that  might  be  obtained.  He 
asked  me  if  I  had  any  personal  knowledge  of  Cartha- 
gena  and  La  Yera  Cruz,  and  what  would  be  the  best 
mode  of  attacking  them  by  sea  and  land?  I  gave 
him  my  opinion  very  freely.  Mr.  Burr  then  asked 
me  if  I  would  take  the  command  of  a  naval  expedi 
tion?  I  asked  him  if  the  executive  of  the  United 
States  were  privy  to  or  concerned  in  the  project? 
IJe  answered  emphatically  that  he  was  not.  I  asked 
that  question  because  the  executive  had  been  charged 
with  a  knowledge  of  Miranda's  expedition ;  I  told 
Mr.  Burr  that  I  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it 
that  Miranda's  project  had  been  intimated  to  me,  but 
I  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  such  affairs. 
He  observed  to  me  that,  in  the  event  of  a  war,  he 


THE   EVIDENCE.  301 

intended  to  establish  an  independent  government  in 
Mexico;  that  Wilkinson,  the  army  and  many  officers 
of  the  navy  would  join.  I  told  Mr.  Burr  that  I 
could  not  see  how  any  officer  of  the  United  States 
could  join.  He  said  that  G-eneral  Wilkinson  had 
projected  the~expedition,  and  he  had  matured  it; 
that  many  greater  men  than  Wilkinson  would  join, 
and  that  thousands  to  the  westward  would  join." 

Mr.  Hay — "Do  you  recollect  having  asked  him 
whether  General  Wilkinson  had  previously  engaged 
in  it?"  "He  said,  'Yes,  and  many  greater  men  than 
Wilkinson.'  " 

Mr.  Hay  —  "I  will  ask  you  whether  at  that  time 
you  were  in  the  service  of  the  United  States?"  "I 
was  declared  not  to  be." 

Mr.  Hay  — "  I  do  not  wish  to  hurt  your  feelings, 
but  merely  to  show  to  the  jury  the  state  you  were  in." 
Commodore  Truxtun  —  "Mr.  Burr  again  wished 
me  to  take  a  part,  and  asked  me  to  write  a  letter  to 
General  Wilkinson;  that  he  was  about  to  dispatch 
two  couriers  to  him.  I  told  him  that  I  had  no  sub 
ject  to  write  about,  and  declined  writing.  Mr.  Burr 
said  that  several  officers  would  be  pleased  at  being 
placed  under  my  command.  He  spoke  highly  of 
Lieutenant  Jones,  and  asked  me  if  he  had  sailed  with 
me?  I  told  him  that  he  had  not,  and  that  I  could 
give  him  no  account  of  Mr.  Jones,  having  never  seen 
him  to  my  knowledge.  He  observed  that  the  ex 
pedition  could  not  fail ;  that  the  Mexicans  were  ripe 


302  THE   EVIDENCE. 

for  revolt;  that  he  was  incapable  of  anything  chim 
erical  or  that  would  lead  his  friends  into  a  dilemma. 
He  showed  me  the  draught  of  a  periauger  or  kind 
of  boat  that  plies  between  Paulus  Hook  and  New 
York,  and  asked  my  opinion  of  those  boats  and 
whether  they  were  calculated  for  the  river  Missis 
sippi  and  the  waters  thereof;  and  I  gave  him  my 
opinion  that  they  were.  He  asked  me  whether  I 
could  get  a  naval  constructor  to  make  several  copies 
of  the  draught?  I  told  him  I  would.  I  spoke  to  a 
naval  constructor  and  delivered  it  to  him,  but  as  he 
could  not  finish  them  as  soon  as  Mr.  Burr  wished, 
the  draught  was  returned  to  him.  Mr.  Burr  told  me 
that  he  intended  these  boats  for  the  conveyance  of 
agricultural  products  to  market  at  New  Orleans,  and, 
in  the  event  of  war,  for  transports.  I  knew,  and 
informed  him,  that  they  were  not  calculated  for 
transports  by  sea  nor  for  the  carrying  of  guns;  but 
having  determined  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Mexican  expedition,  I  said  very  little  more  to  him 
about  those  boats;  but  I  very  well  recollect  what  I 
said  to  him  in  our  last  conversation  towards  the  end 
of  July.  I  told  him  there  would  be  no  war.  He  was 
sanguine  there  would  be  war.  He  said,  however, 
that  if  he  was  disappointed  as  to  the  event  of  war,  he 
was  about  to  complete  a  contract  for  a  large  quantity 
of  land  on  the  Washita;  that  he  intended  to  invite 
his  friends  to  settle  it ;  that  in  one  year  he  would 
have  a  thousand  families  of  respectable  and  fashiona- 


THE   EVIDENCE.  303 

ble  people,  and  some  of  them  of  considerable  prop 
erty  ;  that  it  was  a  fine  country,  and  that  they  would 
have  a  charming  society,  and  in  two  years  he  would 
have  double  the  number  of  settlers ;  and  being  on 
the  frontier,  he  would  be  ready  to  move  whenever  a 
war  took  place.  I  have  thus  endeavored  to  relate 
the  substance  of  the  conversations  which  passed  be 
tween  us  as  well  as  I  can  recollect.  Though  it  is 
very  possible  that  I  have  not  stated  them,  after  such 
length  of  time,  verbatim" 

Mr.  MacRae —  "  Was  it  in  your  first  conversation 
that  he  told  you  that  you  should  think  no  more  of 
those  men  at  Washington?"  "  It  was  in  several." 

44  Was  it  not  in  July  that  he  told  you  that  he 
wished  to  see  you  unwedded  from  the  navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  make  you  an  admiral?" 
"  That  conversation  happened  in  July.  He  wished 
to  see  or  make  me  an  admiral ;  I  can  not  recollect 
which." 

Mr.  Hay  —  "Did  not  those  conversations  take 
place  after  it  was  declared  that  you  were  no  longer 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States?  "  "They  did." 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Colonel  Carrington, 
one  of  the  jury,  he  again  stated  that  the  latter  con 
versation  was  in  J  uly . 

Mr.  Martin  — "  Was  it  not  to  the  event  of  a  war 
with  Spain  that  these  conversations  related?"  "All 
his  conversations  respecting  military  and  naval  sub 
jects  and  the  Mexican  expedition  were  in  the  event 


304  THE  EVIDENCE. 

of  a  war  with  Spain.  I  told  him  my  opinion  was 
that  there  would  be  no  war,  and  he  seemed  to  be  con 
fident  that  there  would  be  war." 

Mr.  MacEae  —  "Did  he  mention  General  Eaton 
in  any  of  those  conversations?"  "He  mentioned 
no  person  but  General  Wilkinson  and  Lieutenant 
Jones." 

Mr.  Hay — "  Had  you  not  expressed  your  dissatis 
faction  at  the  declaration  of  your  not  being  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States ?"  "I  had.  The  misun 
derstanding  between  the  secretary  of  the  navy  of  the 
United  States  and  myself  took  place  in  March,  1802." 

On  cross-examination,  the  commodore  further 
stated  that  he  had  had  several  (he  did  not  know  how 
many)  conversations  with  Mr.  Burr;  and  that,  as 
well  as  he  could  recollect,  it  was  about  the  latter  end 
of  July  that  he  informed  him  that  he  was  about  con 
cluding  a  bargain  for  the  Washita  lands,  and  wished 
also  to  see  him  unwedded  from  the  navy  of  the 
United  States.  He  added  that  "Mr.  Burr  said  that 
after  the  Mexican  expedition  he  intended  to  provide 
a  formidable  navy,  at  the  head  of  which  he  intended 
to  place  me;  that  he  intended  to  establish  an  inde 
pendent  government  and  give  liberty  to  an  enslaved 
world.  I  declined  his  propositions  to  me  at  first, 
because  the  president  was  not  privy  to  the  project. 
He  asked  me  the  best  mode  of  attacking  the  Havana, 
Carthagena  and  La  Vera  Cruz,  but  spoke  of  no  par 
ticular  force." 


THE    EVIDENCE.  305 

Mr.  Burr — "  Do  you  not  recollect  my  telling  you 
of  the  propriety  of  private  expeditions,  undertaken 
by  individuals  in  case  of  war;  and  that  there  had 
been  such  in  the  late  war,  and  that  there  was  no 
legal  restraint  on  such  expeditions?" 

Mr.  Hay  objected  to  the  question  as  improper. 

Mr.  Eurr  insisted  on  its  propriety,  and  that  the 
gentlemen  for  the  prosecution  had  set  an  example 
far  beyond  it. 

Commodore  Truxtun  —  "You  said  Wilkinson,  the 
army  and  many  of  the  officers  of  the  navy  would 
join,  and  you  spoke  highly  of  Lieutenant  Jones." 

Mr.  Eurr  —  "Had  I  not  frequently  told  you,  and 
for  years,  that  the  government  had  no  serious  inten 
tion  of  employing  you,  and  that  you  were  duped  by 
the  Smiths?  And  do  you  not  think  that  I  was  per 
fectly  correct  in  that  opinion  ?  "  "  Yes;  I  know  very 
well  I  was." 

"  Were  we  not  on  terms  of  intimacy  ?  Was  there 
any  reserve  on  my  part  in  our  frequent  conversa 
tions;  and  did  you  ever  hear  me  express  any  in 
tention  or  sentiment  respecting  a  division  of  the 
Union?"  "  We  were  very  intimate.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  reserve  on  your  part.  I  never  heard  you  : 
speak  of  a  division  of  the  Union." 

"  Did  I  not  state  to  you  that  the  Mexican  expedi 
tion  would  be  very  beneficial  to  this  country?" 
"You  did." 

"  Had  you  any  serious  doubt  as  to  my  intentions 


306  THE    EVIDENCE. 

to  settle  those  lands?"  "So  far  from  that,  I  was 
astonished  at  the  intelligence  of  your  having  differ 
ent  views,  contained  in  newspapers  received  from 
the  western  country  after  you  went  thither." 

"  Would  you  not  have  joined  in  the  expedition  if 
sanctioned  by  the  government?"  "I  would  most 
readily  get  out  of  my  bed  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night 
to  go  in  defense  of  my  country,  at  her  call,  against 
England,  France,  Spain  or  any  other  country." 

Mr.  Hay  —  "  Did  the  prisoner  speak  of  commercial 
speculations?"  "He  said  they  might  be  carried  on 
to  advantage." 

"  Did  he,  in  his  conversations,  speak  of  com 
mercial  establishments  in  which  he  or  his  friends 
were  to  have  an  interest?"  "He  spoke  of  settling 
that  country  and  sending  produce  therefrom  to  dif 
ferent  parts  of  the  world,  New  Orleans  particularly." 

Mr.  Wirt — "Did  he  speak  of  an  independent  em 
pire  in  Mexico,  having  an  advantageous  connection 
with  this  country?  "  "  I  understood  him  so." 

Mr.  MacEae  —  "Did  he  wish  to  fill  your  mind 
with  resentment  against  the  government  ?  "  "I  was 
pretty  full  of  it  myself,  and  he  joined  me  in  opinion." 

Mr.  Wirt  —  "On  what  subject  did  Burr  wish  you 
to  write  to  General  Wilkinson?"  "  General  Wilkin 
son  and  myself  were  on  good  terms,  and  he  wished 
me  to  correspond  with  him ;  but  I  had  no  subject 
for  a  letter  to  him,  and,  therefore,  did  not  write  to 
him." 


THE   EVIDENCE.  307 

Mr.  Hay  —  "  Suppose  we  were  to  have  a  war  with 
Spain,  would  not  New  Orleans  be  a  proper  place  from 
whence  to  send  an  expedition  against  the  Spanish 
provinces?  Is  it  not  more  proper  for  that  purpose 
than  any  other  place  in  the  western  parts  of  the 
country?"  "Certainly  it  is;  but  large  ships  can  not 
come  up  to  New  Orleans;  small  craft  or  vessels  must 
take  the  expedition  down  the  river." 

Mr.  Parker,  one  of  the  jury — "Did  you  under 
stand  for  what  purpose  the  couriers  spoken  of  were 
to  be  sent  by  Mr.  Burr  to  General  Wilkinson?  "  "I 
understood  from  him  that  there  was  an  under 
standing  between  himself  and  General  Wilkinson 
about  the  Mexican  expedition." 

Mr.  Parker  —  "  Was  this  expedition  only  to  be  in 
the  event  of  a  war  with  Spain?"     "  Yes;  in  all  his 
conversations  with  me  he  said  that  this  expedition  was  ; 
to  take  place  only  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Spain.'" 

Mr.  Parker — "Was  there  no  proposition  made  toj 
you  for  such  an  expedition,  whether  there  was  war/ 
or  not?"  "There  was  not ."  / 

This  evidence  of  Commodore  Truxtun  is  clear, 
complete  and  conclusive  as  to  Burr's  intentions  in 
respect  to  his  Mexican  project.  The  commodore  was 
one  of  the  few  honest  witnesses  examined  at  the 
trial,  and  he  was  introduced  by  the  prosecution  evi 
dently  under  a  mistaken  idea  of  what  his  testimony 
would  be.  He  states  emphatically  that  Burr's  in 
tentions  were  based  solely  on  the  event  of  a  war  with 


308  THE   EVIDENCE. 

Spain.  Strong  efforts  were  made  to  get  him  to  state 
the  contrary,  with  only  the  result  of  making  him 
more  positive  in  his  assertions.  Burr's  vindication 
by  this  witness  is  full  and  complete. 

General  Wilkinson  was  the  star  witness  by  whom 
Jefferson  expected  to  prove  his  whole  case  against 
Burr.  Wirt  said,  in  advance,  that  his  evidence  "was 
the  keystone  of  the  arch  of  all  the  testimony  they 
possessed,"  and  the  case  was  held  in  abeyance,  almost 
a  month,  waiting  the  arrival  of  this  important  wit 
ness.  It  was  unfortunate  for  his  credit,  when  he 
did  arrive,  that  John  .Randolph  was  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury,  for  he  detected  his  falsehoods  and  made 
him  acknowledge  that  he  had  committed  both  forgery 
lind  perjury  in  connection  with~fhe  cipher  letter, 
upon  which  the  prosecution  mainly  relied  to  convict 
Burr.  As  this  witness  was  of  so  much  importance 
and  his  testimony  so  greatly  relied  upon,  it  will  not 
be  improper  to  present  him  in  his  true  character. 

The  cipher  letter  was  written  on  the  29th  of  July, 
1806,  when  Burr  was  at  Philadelphia,  in  answer  to 
a  letter  from  Wilkinson,  and  was  strictly  in  response 
to  his  inquiries.  The  letter  as  it  was  written  shows 
plainly  that  an  agreement  existed  between  Burr 
and  Wilkinson  in  regard  to  a  military  enterprise  in 
which  both  were  to  engage.  Wilkinson  had  written 
to  know  whether  Burr  was  pushing  his  preparations 
and  was  securing  funds  for  the  proposed  movement. 
At  the  time  of  receiving  this  reply,  which  was  not 


THE   EVIDENCE.  309 

until  in  October,  Wilkinson  had  changed  his  plans, 
and,  for  reasons  which  may  readily  be  surmised,  had 
determined  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and  use  the 
letter  to  the  injury  of  Burr.  To  do  this  it  was  neces 
sary  to  alter  the  letter  so  as  to  eliminate  all  ex 
pressions  which  went  to  show  that  the  enterprise 
referred  to  was  one  in  which  they  were  both  in 
terested,  and  also  to  conceal  the  fact  that  it  was  a 
reply  to  a  letter  from  himself  to  Burr.  This  he  did, 
and  then  translated  the  letter  in  the  entirely  new 
form  he  gave  it.  And,  swearing  to  the  truth  of  this 
translation,  he  forwarded  it  to  Jefferson,  who  pub 
lished  it  far  and  wide  over  the  country. 

Nothing  else  at  that  time  bore  so  heavily  against 
Burr  as  this  mutilated  and  distorted  letter.  It  was 
read  in  every  corner  of  the  country,  with  the  presi 
dent's  indorsement.  How  could  the  people  know 
that  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  used  it  was  a  false 
hood  ?  It  turned  the  tide  of  public  opinion ,  which  had 
been  overwhelmingly  for  Burr,  almost  entirely  against 
him.  How  could  they  know  that  the  letter,  as  they 
received  it,  was  tainted  with  both  forgery  and  per 
jury?  It  is  true  that  when  Wilkinson  refused  to 
permit  any  one  to  see  the  original  letter,  some  of  the 
people,  knowing  Wilkinson's  bad  character,  doubted 
the  genuineness  of  the  publication.  But  the  great 
body  of  the  people  accepted  it  as  true,  and,  as  with 
one  voice,  cried  "Crucify  him!  crucify  him!"  To 
this  day  the  greater  portion  of  our  people  believe,  on 


310  THE    EVIDENCE. 

the  evidence  of  that  letter,  that  Burr  way  a  traitor. 
It  did  not  matter  that  Wilkinson  acknowledged, 
when  he  was  examined  as  a  witness,  thatj^altered 
the  letter  and  had  sworn  to  a  falsehood  when  he 
made  oath  that  the  translation  he  gave  was  a  true 
one  of  the  original  letter.  Not  one  in  a  hundred 
who  had  been  deceived  by  the  forgery  ever  heard  of 
this  confession. 

In  a  speech  in  congress  made  by  John  Randolph, 
in  January,  1808,  in  which  he  refers  to  this  forgery, 
he  introduced  the  subject  by  saying  he  should  cer 
tainly  have  abstained  from  noticing  the  circumstance 
he  was  about  to  mention,  and  which  he  had  believed 
to  be  of  general  notoriety,  had  it  not  been  that, 
within  a  few  days  past,  a  gentleman  with  whom  he 
was  in  habits  of  intimacy,  and  whose  means  of  in 
formation  were  as  good  as  those  of  any  member  of 
the  house,  to  his  utter  surprise,  informed  him  that 
he  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  fact.  This  ignorance 
then  and  still  largely  pervades  the  country. 

Mr.  Randolph,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the 
foreman  of  the  grand  jury  that  returned  the  indict 
ment  against  Burr,  on  which  he  was  tried  for  trea 
son.  In  referring  to  this  matter,  "Mr.  Randolph 
said:  He  held  in  his  hand  an  interpretation  of  this 
ciphered  letter,  which  was  made  in  the  grand  jury 
room  at  Richmond,  by  three  members  of  that  body, 
for  their  use  and  in  their  presence;  and  it  was 
necessary  here  to  state  that  so  extremely  delicate 


THE   EVIDENCE.  311 

was  General  Wilkinson  that  he  refused  to  leave  the 
papers  in  possession  of  the  grand  jury ;  whenever 
the  jury  met  they  were  put  into  their  hands,  and 
whenever  they  rose  the  witness  was  called  up  and 
received  them  back  again.  Here  was  a  copy  — 
rather  a  different  one  from  that  which,  '  on  the  honor 
of  a  soldier  and  on  the  Holy  Evangelists  of  Almighty 
God,'  was  as  fair  an  interpretation  as  General  Wil 
kinson  was  able  to  make.  A  comparison  of  the  two 
would  throw  a  little  light  upon  the  subject.  In  the 
printed  copy  of  the  last  session  might  be  read,  'I 
(Aaron  Burr)  have  actually  commenced  the  enter 
prise —  detachments  from  different  points,'  etc.  In 
the  original  the  words  had  been  scratched  out  with 
a  knife,  so  as  to  cut  the  paper  —  'I  have  actually 
commenced' — not  the  enterprise,  but  'the  Eastern 
detachments.'  Now  mark;  by  changing  the  word 
Eastern  into  enterprise,  and  moving  the  full  stop  so 
as  to  separate  Eastern  from  its  substantive  detach 
ments,  the  important  fact  was  lost  that,  as  there  were 
Eastern  detachments  under  Colonel  Burr,  there  must 
have  been  Western  detachments  under  somebody 
else!  Now,  with  a  dictionary  in  his  hand,  could 
any  man  change  'Eastern'  into  'enterprise'  and 
move  the  full  stop,  under  an  exertion  of  the  best  of 
his  ability?  Again,  the  printed  copy  says,  'Every 
thing  internal  and  external  favors  views;'  the  orig 
inal  has  it,  'favors  our  views.'  The  word  'our  '  per 
haps  could  not  be  found  in  any  English  dictionary ! 


312  THE   EVIDENCE. 

The  printed  version  says  again,  'The  project  (this  is 
the  best  interpretation  upon  his  oath  which  a  party 
who  had  never  suffered  the  papers  to  go  out  of  his 
hands  could  make)  is  brought  to  the  point  so  long 
desired.'  The  real  interpretation  is,  'the  project,  my 
dear  friend,  is  brought  to  the  point  so  long  desired.'  " 
In  answer  to  the  question  by  a  member  of  the 
house,  "whether  there  was  not  a  motion  before  the 
grand  jury  to  find  a  bill  against  General  Wilkinson  ?  " 
Mr.  Randolph  said  :  "  There  was  before  the  grand 
jury  a  motion  to  present  General  Wilkinson  for  mis- 
prision  of  treason.  The  motion  was  overruled  upon 
this  ground :  that  the  treasonable  (overt)  act  hav 
ing  been  alleged  to  be  committed  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  and  General  Wilkinson's  letter  to  the  presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  having  been  dated,  al 
though  but  a  short  time,  prior  to  that  act,  this  per 
son  had  the  benefit  of  what  lawyers  would  call  a 
legal  exception,  or  a  fraud.  But,"  said  Mr.  Kan- 
dolph,  "I  will  inform  the  gentleman  that  I  did  not 
hear  a  single  member  of  the  grand  jury  express  any 
other  opinion  than  that  which  I  myself  expressed  of 
the  moral  (not  the  legal)  guilt  of  the  party."  This 
was  the  witness  and  this  the  evidence  which  Mr. 
Wirt  declared  was  "  the  keystone  to  the  arch  of  all 
the  evidence  they  possessed  "  to  convict  Colonel  Burr 
of  treason.  And  this  was  the  evidence,  almost  en 
tirely,  upon  which  Burr  was  condemned  by  the 
people  and  is  still  condemned  by  them. 


THE    EVIDENCE.  313 

McMasters,  in  his  history  of  the  United  States, 
draws  a  vivid  picture  of  Wilkinson  as  he  appeared  at 
Burr's  trial :  "  We  can  see  the  confusion,  the  hesi 
tation,  the  hang-dog  look  of  Wilkinson,  traitor,  per 
jurer,  false  friend,  pensioner  of  Spain,  as  he  stands 
before  the  jury  for  examination.  We  can  see  John 
Eandolph  laboring  in  the  jury  room  to  indict  him 
for  treason,  and  Aaron  Burr  laboring  in  the  court 
room  to  attach  him  for  contempt.  We  can  see  Swart- 
wout  jostle  him  in  the  Eagle  Tavern  and  then  post 
him  as  a  liar,  a  villain  and  a  coward  because  he  will 
not  fight.  We  can  see  Andrew  Jackson  abuse  him 
in  every  company,  and,  choking  with  excitement, 
laud  Burr  to  a  crowd  of  admirers  on  the  court  house 
green." 

The  one  other  witness  whose  testimony  helped 
to  raise  the  clamor  and  the  excitement  against  Burr 
was  Eaton  —  "General"  Eaton,  as  he  appears  in  the 
record,  but  the  title  was  self-assumed.  The  highest 
rank  he  attained  in  the  service  of  the  country  was 
that  of  captain,  and  while  holding  this  he  was,  by 
order  of  General  Wayne,  tried  by  court-martial,  for 
improper  conduct,  and  dismissed  from  the  service. 
Some  time  after  his  dismissal  from  the  army,  being 
poor  and  in  distress,  Jefferson  appointed  him  consul 
at  Tunis,  in  the  Barbary  states,  North  Africa.  The 
office  had  little  importance  and  less  salary,  but  Eaton, 
as  he  claimed,  not  only  managed  to  live  comfortably 
but  in  a  short  time  expend  ten  thousand  dollars  of 


314  THE   EVIDENCE. 

his  own  money  for  government  expenses.  After  his 
return  from  Africa  he  presented  his  claim  to  the 
accounting  officers  of  the  government  for  payment. 
These  officers  rejected  it,  insisting  that  Eaton  was 
indebted  to  the  government.  Eaton  then  applied  to 
congress,  and  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  house  of 
representatives,  authorizing  the  proper  officers  to 
settle  with  Eaton.  This  bill  languished;  it  seemed 
to  have  no  friends.  For  three  years  this  claim  was 
persistently  rejected  by  the  government,  when  in 
January,  1807,  Eaton  suddenly  recollected  he  had 
had  some  conversations  with  Burr  about  a  year  be 
fore,  in  which  Burr  discussed  some  highly  treasona 
ble  projects  in  which  he  was  then  engaged.  Eaton 
promptly  gave  these  disclosures  the  form  of  an  affi 
davit,  and  carried  it  to  Jefferson.  Nothing  was  more 
desired  by  the  president,  just  at  that  time,  than 
statements  such  as  this,  pending  to  increase  and 
justify  the  clamor  against  Burr.  He  accepted  this 
from  Eaton  not  alone  with  thanks,  but  within  six 
weeks  Eaton  was  paid  his  claim  for  ten  thousand 
dollars  in  full,  a  claim  that  had  for  three  years  been 
persistently  rejected  as  unjust.  This  affidavit  cost 
the  people  ten  thousand  dollars;  it  was  right,  then, 
they  should  have  the  reading  of  it;  therefore  the 
president  had  it  sent  broadcast  over  the  county. 
The  main  purpose  of  its  purchase  was  fully  accom 
plished;  it  increased  the  excitement  and  confirmed 
the  belief  of  the  people  that  Burr  was  about  to  pitch 


THE    EVIDENCE.  315 

the  capitol  into  the  Potomac.  This  particular  pro 
ject,,  the  overturning  of  the  general  government, 
was  the  important  feature  of  Eaton's  affidavit.  As 
this  was  not  material  in  the  trial  at  Eichmond,  it 
was  excluded,  and  what  was  given  by  the  witness 
was  not  believed.  His  manners  were  obnoxious  to 
all  who  saw  him  at  Eichmond.  "  Strutting  on  the 
streets,  tricked  out  in  colored  clothes  and  Turkish 
sash,  tippling  in  the  taverns  and  prating  of  his 
wrongs,"  as  McMasters  describes  him.  Yet  this 
man's  purchased  perjury  created  a  prejudice  at  the 
time  it  was  first  published  which  is  still  perpetuated. 

More  than  fifty  years  ago  Safford,  in  his  "Life 
of  Blennerhassett,"  g:ves  the  following,  referring  to 
Burr:  "He  was  arrested,  tried  and  acquitted,  but 
his  country  refused  to  believe  him  innocent.  Though 
stout  old  Truxtun  had  testified  in  his  favor;  though 
Jackson  had  seen  nothing  wrong  in  Burr's  project, 
but  agreed  to  favor  it,  the  popular  voice  continued 
to  regard  him  as  a  traitor,  whom  accident  alone  had 
prevented  from  dismembering  the  Union.  That  a 
man  of  sense  and  ability  should  entertain  such  a 
notion,  relying  for  aid  on  associates  whom  he  knew 
would  countenance  no  treason,  is  a  preposterous  and 
insane  supposition.  As  he  said  on  his  death-bed,  he 
might  as  well  have  attempted  to  seize  the  moon  and 
parcel  it  out  among  his  followers." 

While  Jefferson  was  complimenting  Wilkinson 
for  displaying  "  the  honor  of  a  soldier  and  the  fidelity 


316  THE   EVIDENCE. 

of  a  good  citizen,"  in  swearing  to  a  falsehood  and 
in  violating  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  his 
country,  to  secure  the  condoning  of  his  well-known 
crimes,  Wilkinson  was  trying  to  add  money  to  his 
purse  by  attempting  to  persuade  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment  that  its  very  existence  had  been  in  immi 
nent  danger,  and  that  but  for  himself  in  driving  back 
the  invaders,  Mexico  would  then  have  been  "under 
the  heel  of  a  conqueror."  But,  he  said,  "  I,  like  Leon- 
idas,  boldly  threw  myself  in  the  pass,"  and  stayed 
his  course.  With  "the  honor  of  a  soldier  and  the 
fidelity  of  a  good  citizen,"  he  now  demanded  his 
pay.  Soon  after  his  confession  at  Eichmond,  that 
he  had  altered  Burr's  letter  and  perjured  himself  in 
swearing  that  a  false  translation  of  it  was  true,  he 
made  up  his  account  against  Mexico  and  sent  his 
aid,  Captain  Walter  Burling,  to  the  viceroy  of  that 
country  to  demand  payment,  in  the  sum  of  two  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  for  the  expense  he  had  incurred 
in  "counteracting  the  hostile  plans  of  the  Ameri 
can  vice-president  Burr,  against  Mexico."  This 
would  make  Jefferson's  indorsement  of  the  general's 
"honor"  seem  ridiculous  were  it  not  that  Jefferson 
knew,  and  Wilkinson  knew,  and  everybody  else 
knew,  that  Wilkinson  was,  at  the  moment  that  Jef 
ferson  indorsed  him,  the  greatest  scoundrel  in  the 
western  country. 

This  "embassy"  of  Wilkinson  to  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico  was  in  the  autumn  of  1807,  just  after  the 


THE    EVIDENCE.  317 

close  of  Burr's  trial.  The  widow  of  the  viceroy  had 
given  her  recollection  of  the  matter  to  Colonel  Keene, 
an  officer  in  the  service  of  Spain,  who  was  engaged 
in  investigating  the  matter  some  years  later.  Colo 
nel  Keene  enclosed  her  statements  to  Dr.  Mangan, 
who  was  the  interpreter  between  the  viceroy  and 
Burling,  on  the  occasion,  for  a  statement  of  the  facts, 
and  also  asks  him  to  verify  the  widow's  statement  if 
it  be  true. 

The  documents  to  prove  that  Wilkinson  really 
made  this  demand  upon  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  are 
full  and  complete,  as  given  in  Davis'  "  Life  of  Burr." 
We  will  copy  the  statements  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mangan, 
Rector  of  the  Irish  College  in  Salamanca,  who  acted 
as  interpreter  between  the  viceroy  and  Captain  Bur 
ling.  Dr.  Mangan  said:  "As  his  excellency  was 
pleased  to  make  use  of  me  as  interpreter  in  the  inter 
view  he  granted  Mr.  Walter  Burling,  the  bearer  of 
a  letter  from  the  aforesaid  General  Wilkinson,  and 
commissioned  by  him  to  the  viceroy  the  importance 
of  his  embassy,  I  candidly  confess  that,  to  the  be"st 
of  my  recollection,  the  exposition  of  the  vice-queen 
is  perfectly  correct,  for  the  object  of  the  famous 
embassy  of  Mr.  Burling  was  to  display  to  the  viceroy 
the  great  pecuniary  sacrifices  made  by  General  Wilkin 
son  to  frustrate  the  plan  of  invasion  meditated  by 
the  ex-vice-president,  Mr.  Burr,  against  the  king 
dom  of  Mexico,  and  to  solicit,  in  consideration  of 


318  THE   EVIDENCE. 

such  important  services,  a  pretty  round  sum  of  at 
least  tn'o  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

"  I  cannot  help  observing  that  the  viceroy,  Don 
Joseph  de  Yturrigary,  received  this  communication 
with  due  contempt  and  indignation,  bidding  me  to 
tell  Mr.  Burling  that  General  Wilkinson,  in  counter 
acting  any  treasonable  plans  of  Mr.  Burr,  did  no 
more  than  comply  with  his  duty;  that  he  (the  vice 
roy)  would  take  good  care  to  defend  the  kingdom 
of  Mexico  against  any  attack  or  invasion,  and  that 
he  did  not  think  himself  authorized  to  give  one 
farthing  to  General  Wilkinson  as  compensation  for 
his  pretended  services.  He  concluded  by  ordering 
Mr.  Burling  to  leave  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  had  him 
safely  escorted  to  the  port  of  Yera  Cruz,  where  he 
was  immediately  embarked  for  the  United  States. 

"This  is,  believe  me,  the  substance  (as  far  as  I 
can  recollect)  of  the  famous  embassy  of  General 
Wilkinson  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  who  certainly 
was  not  mistaken  in  the  passage  he  mentioned  to 
you  of  Leonidas,  as  I  recollect  well  that  General 
Wilkinson,  after  displaying  in  a  pompous  style  the 
great  difficulties  he  had  to  encounter  to  render  Mr. 
Burr's  plan  fruitless,  concluded  by  affirming  —  'I, 
like  Leonidas,  boldly  threw  myself  in  the  pass,  etc.'" 

It  is  well  to  know  the  true  character  of  the  wit 
ness  whose  evidence  was,  as  Wirt  declared,  "the 
keystone  of  the  arch  of  all  the  testimony  they  pos 
sessed"  against  Burr.  Ho  was  before  infamous  to 


THE   EVIDENCE.  319 

all  who  knew  him,  and,  if  it  were  possible  to  do  so, 
had  added  to  his  infamy  by  his  acknowledged  per 
jury  at  the  trial  of  Burr.  *  His  pretense  of  having 
spent  large  sums  of  his  own  money  in  protecting 
Mexico  from  an  attempted  invasion  by  Burr  is  char 
acteristic  of  his  swindling  propensity.  He  had  for 
many  years  been  a  pensioner  of  Spain,  hired  and 
paid  to  create  disaffection  in  the  western  states.  Jef 
ferson  knew  this  when  he  indorsed  him,  and,  the 
presumption  is  strong,  that  Wilkinson  had  assurances 
that  he  would  be  protected  from  punishment  if  he 
would  help  to  convict  Burr. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


BLENNERHASSETT. 


An  Irishman— Of  Wealth  and  Good  Position  — Settles  on  an  Island  — 
Seeks  Burr's  Acquaintance  —  Offers  His  Services  — In  Any  Enter 
prise  Proposed  —  Engages  in  Burr's  Land  Settlement  —  Is  Indicted 
for  Treason  —  Not  Prosecuted  —  Failure  in  Business  —  Dies  in  Pov 
erty—Mrs.  Blennerhassett  — Her  Death. 


Harman  Blennerhassett  was  one  of  the  most  pic 
turesque  characters  of  western  life.  He  belonged 
to  an  Irish  family  of  wealth  and  position.  He  was 
well  educated,  fond  of  scientific  studies,  but  of  an 
eccentricity  of  mind  which  deprived  him  of  the 
ability  of  prosecuting  any  business  successfully.  He 
had,  however,  brought  wealth  with  him  when  he 
came  and  settled  upon  an  island  in  the  Ohio  river 
and  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia.  If  he  had  no 
ability  for  acquiring  wealth  he  had  wonderful  facility 
for  spending  it.  He  built  a  "  palace  "  upon  his  island, 
of  a  style  which  defied  all  rules  of  architecture,  an 
cient  or  modern,  and  more  nearly  resembled  a  mili 
tary  barrack  than  a  family  residence.  He  was  more 
successful  with  his  grounds,  which  were  made  some 
what  to  resemble  an  Irish  nobleman's  park.  And 

(320) 


BLENNERHASSETT.  321 

here,  with  wife  and  children,  with  books,  chemical 
apparatus,  and  especially  with  musical  instruments, 
he  was  prepared  to  spend  a  happy,  uneventful  life. 

uWho  is  Blennerhassett?"  asks  Wirt  in  one  of 
his  flights  of  oratory  at  Burr's  trial.  He  answers 
himself:  "  A  native  of  Ireland,  a  man  of  letters, 
who  fled  from  the  storms  of  his  own  country  to  find 
quiet  in  ours.  His  history  shows  that  war  is  not 
the  natural  element  of  his  mind.  If  it  had  been,  he 
never  would  have  exchanged  Ireland  for  America. 
So  far  is  an  army  from  furnishing  the  society  nat 
ural  and  proper  to  Mr.  Blennerhassett's  character 
that  on  his  arrival  in  America  he  retired  even  from 
the  population  of  the  Atlantic  states  and  sought 
quiet  and  solitude  in  the  bosom  of  our  western 
forests."  Wirt  was  right ;  Blennerhassett  was  in 
every  way  unfitted  for  the  life  of  a  soldier.  He  was 
physically  disqualified  for  a  soldier ;  he  was  so  near 
sighted  he  could  not  distinguish  a  friend  from  an 
enemy  at  the  distance  of  ten  paces.  Would  Burr 
have  used  persuasion  to  induce  such  a  man  to  join  a 
military  expedition,  full  of  danger  and  difficulty,  re 
quiring  strong,  vigorous,  active  men  to  make  it  suc 
cessful  ?  Nor  was  he  mentally  fitted  for  the  work 
or  life  of  a  soldier,  where  sound  judgment  was  a  ne 
cessity.  Let  us  see  what  those  who  knew  him  best 
had  to  say  about  him. 

Mr.  Dudley  Woodbridge,  a  witness  introduced 
and  examined  on  the  part  of  the  government,  was 


321*  BLENNERHASSETT. 

for  six  or  eight  years  the  business  partner  of  Mr. 
Blennerhassett,  doing  business  under  the  firm  name 
of  Dudley  Woodbridge  &  Co.  He  was  not  only  per 
sonally  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Blennerhassett,  but 
knew  perfectly  the  condition  of  his  financial  affairs. 
On  cross-examination  he  testified  in  part  as  follows : 

Mr.  Burr  —  "  You  know  Mr.  Blennerhassett  well ; 
was  it  not  ridiculous  for  him  to  be  engaged  in  a  mili 
tary  enterprise  ?  How  far  can  he  distinguish  a  man 
from  a  horse?  Ten  steps?" 

Witness  —  "  He  is  very  near-sighted.  He  can  not 
know  you  from  any  one  of  us,  at  the  distance  we  are 
now  from  one  another.  He  knows  nothing  of  mili 
tary  affairs.  I  never  understood  that  he  was  a  mili 
tary  man." 

Mr.  Wirt — "You  were  asked,  sir,  about  Mr. 
Blennerhassett's  military  talents.  Permit  me  to  aek 
you  what  were  his  pecuniary  resources?  What  was 
the  state  of  his  money  matters  ?  " 

Witness — "I  believe  they  are  not  as  great  as 
was  generally  imagined.  I  gave  him  six  thousand 
dollars  for  one-half  of  his  profits  of  our  business; 
he  had  about  three  thousand  dollars  in  stock  in  our 
company's  concern.  His  fortune  is  much  less  than 
generally  understood.  He  had  not  over  five  or  six 
thousand  dollars  in  the  hands  of  his  agent  in  Phil 
adelphia.  His  island  and  improvements  cost  about 
forty  or  fifty  thousand  dollars.  It  would  not,  how 
ever,  sell  for  near  that  sum,  except  to  a  person  of  the 


BLENNERHASSETT  o'23 

same  cast  with  Mr.  Blennerhassett.  After  building 
his  house,  his  property,  exclusive  of  the  island  and 
five  negroes,  amounted  probably  to  seventeen  thou 
sand  dollars." 

Mr.  Wirt  —  "Is  he  esteemed  a  man  of  vigorous 
talents?" 

Witness — "He  is;  and  a  man  of  literature.  But 
it  was  mentioned  among  the  people  of  the  country 
that  he  had  every  kind  of  sense  but  common  sense, 
at  least  he  had  the  reputation  of  having  more  of 
other  than  of  common  sense." 

Mr.  Blennerhassett,  then,  was  not  a  man  of  mili 
tary  inclination  or  experience,  nor  was  he  a  man  of 
sufficient  wealth  to  contribute  to  any  considerable 
extent  to  the  expense  of  a  military  expedition.  He 
was  not  a  man  Burr  would  wish  to  burden  himself 
with  in  the  enterprise  he  proposed  against  Mexico. 
Burr  declared  in  after  life,  and  all  the  circumstances 
confirmed  his  statement,  that  he  made  no  engagement 
with  Blennerhassett  until  after  the  collapse  of  his 
military  projects. 

For  nearly  a  hundred  years  the  belief  has  existed 
in  the  minds  of  many  people  that  Burr  beguiled 
Blennerhassett  into  joining  with  him  in  unlawful 
enterprises,  and  thereby  ruined  and  impoverished 
him.  The  only  foundation  for  this  belief  was  Wirt's 
bright  imagination  and  brilliant  eloquence.  He  had, 
in  prosecuting  the  case  against  Burr,  no  facts  he  dare 
discuss,  he  therefore  drew  upon  his  imagination  for 


324  BLENNERHASSETT. 

what  he  wished.  He  created,  scenes  that  fascinated 
the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  described  them  in  words 
that  held  captive  the  minds  of  men.  They  were 
deceived,  but  they  believed.  And  that  generation 
taught  their  sons  and  daughters  to  believe,  until  to 
day  it  is  regarded  as  almost  sacrilegious  to  doubt  the 
truth  of  the  great  lie  Wirt's  necessity  compelled  him 
to  invent. 

In  preparing  for  his  trial  at  Eichmond,  Blenner- 
hassett  made  what  he  called  a  brief  of  his  case  for 
the  use  of  his  lawyers.  In  this  he  gives  a  statement 
of  his  first  acquaintance  with  Burr.  He  says :  "  pris 
oner  first  became  acquainted  with  Aaron  Burr  by 
a  voluntary  and  unsolicited  visit  made  by  A.  B.  to 
prisoner  at  his  residence  on  the  Ohio,  in  the  spring 
of  1805.  Col.  Burr  arrived  about  nightfall.  He 
participated  during  the  visit  in  the  general  conver 
sation  of  the  company ;  had  no  private  interview  or 
business  with  the  prisoner,  and  he  took  leave  about 
eleven  o'clock  at  night."  Burr  was  then  going  down 
the  river  on  his  first  trip  to  the  west  in  1805.  On 
his  return  he  called  again  at  Blennerhassett's,  but 
did  not  see  him  ;  he  was  absent  from  home. 

Then  Blennerhassett  continues :  "  Sometime  in  the 
beginning  of  December  following,  prisoner  on  his 
return  from  Baltimore,  received  a  letter  from  Col. 
Burr,  couched  in  polite  language  and  expressing  a 
regret  at  not  having  had  an  opportunity  of  improv 
ing  a  personal  acquaintance  with  prisoner,  owing  to 


BLENNERHASSETT.  325 

the  absence  of  the  latter  from  home."  There  was, 
then,  at  that  time,  no  personal  acquaintance  between 
them,  except  the  brief  call  the  spring  before,  at  which 
no  private  interview  was  had.  Blennerhassett  then 
proceeds  to  tell  of  his  "  advance  "  to  Burr.  He  says: 
"  At  this  time  a  wish  on  the  part  of  the  prisoner  to 
improve  his  pecuniary  affairs,  combining  with  a 
natural  desire  to  cultivate  an  acquaintance  by  which 
he  justly  thought,  he  might  improve  his  own  talents, 
and  promote  the  interests  of  his  children,  led  him, 
after  some  reflection,  to  write  the  first  letter  he  ever 
addressed  to  the  late  vice-president,  expressive  of  a 
desire  to  be  honored  with  a  hope  of  being  admitted 
into  a  participation  of  any  speculation  which  might, 
during  his  tour  through. the  country,  have  presented 
itself  to  Colonel  Burr's  judgment  as  worthy  to  en 
gage  his  talents.  In  making  this  advance,  prisoner 
contemplated  not  only  a  commercial  enterprise,  or 
land  purchase,  but  a  military  adventure  was  dis 
tinctly  mentioned,  in  which  prisoner  would  engage." 
He  adds:  •'  This  overture  on  the  part  of  the  prisoner 
procured  a  visit  from  Colonel  Burr  at  prisoner's  late 
residence,  on  the  Ohio,  some  time  in  the  month  of 
August,  1806." 

This  is  a  plain,  simple  statement  of  the  fact  that 
when  Burr  had  no  real  acquaintance  with  Blenner 
hassett,  and  had  said  nothing  to  him  of  any  plans  he 
had  in  view,  the  latter  had  written  him  of  his  own 
motion,  and  solicited  a  participation  in  whatever 


326  BLENNERHASSETT. 

enterprises  Burr  might  be  thinking  of,  whether 
commercial,  land  purchase,  or  military.  The  letter 
to  Burr,  referred  to  in  his  brief,  was  written  Decem 
ber  21st,  1805,  and  the  portion  of  it  containing  his 
"advance  "  to  Burr  is  as  follows: 

"But  the  interests  of  a  growing  family,  I  feel^ 
will  summon  me  again  into  active  life,  to  the  resump 
tion  of  my  former  profession  of  the  bar,  mercantile, 
or  other  enterprise,  if  I  should  find  an  opportunity 
of  selling  or  letting  my  establishment  here  to  a  gen 
tleman  who  could,  without  a  sacrifice,  give  me  a 
price  by  which  I  should  not  lose  too  much  of  the 
money  it  stands  me  in,  say  $50,000;  or  afford  me  a 
rent  of  $2,500,  which,  by  proper  management,  it 
might  be  made  to  realize  without  paying,  at  the 
highest  rate,  half  the  yearly  value  of  the  extensive 
and  numerous  conveniences  on  the  place,  with  a 
detail  of  which  I  forbear  to  trouble  you,  observing 
merely,  that  there  is  now  in  good  order,  say,  two 
hundred  acres,  which,  with  twenty  well  managed 
hands,  employed  in  raising  hemp,  would  afford  a 
handsome  profit.  In  either  way,  if  I  could  sell  or 
lease  the  place,  I  would  move  forward  with  a  firmer 
confidence  in  any  undertaking  which  your  sagacity 
might  open  to  profit  and  fame. 

k' Having  thus  advised  you  of  my  desire  and 
motives  to  pursue  a  change  of  life,  to  engage  in  any 
thing  which  may  suit  my  circumstances,  I  hope,  sir, 
you  will  not  regard  it  indelicate  in  me  to  observe  to 


BLENNERHASSETT.  3l>7 

you  how  highly  I  should  be  honored  in  being  asso 
ciated  with  you  in  any  contemplated  enterprise  you 
would  permit  me  to  participate  in.  The  amount  of 
means  I  could  at  first  come  forward  with  would  be 
small.  You  might  command  my  services  as  a  lawyer, 
or  in  any  other  way  you  should  suggest  as  being 
most  useful.  I  could,  I  have  no  doubt,  unite  the 
talents  and  energy  of  two  of  my  particular  friends, 
who  would  share  in  any  fortune  which  might  follow 
you.  The  gentlemen  alluded  to  are  Mr.  Dudley 
Woodbridge,  junior,  of  Marietta,  and  Mr.  Devereux, 
of  Baltimore,  a  ci-devant-general  in  the  Irish  rebel 
army,  either  of  whom,  it  is  proper  to  remark,  could 
be  prevailed  upon  to  enlist  in  the  undertaking. 

"Not  presuming  to  know  or  guess  at  the  inter 
course,  if  any,  subsisting  between  you  and  the 
present  government,  but  viewing  the  probability  of 
a  rupture  with  Spain,  the  claim  for  action  the  country 
will  make  upon  your  talents,  in  the  event  of  an 
engagement  against,  or  subjugation  of,  any  of  the 
Spanish  territories,  I  am  disposed,  in  the  confidential 
spirit  of  this  letter,  to  offer  you  my  friends'  and  my 
own  services  to  co-operate  in  any  contemplated 
measures  in  which  you  may  embark.  In  making 
this  proposition,  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  feel  that  it 
flows  in  a  conviction  of  your  judgment  and  talents, 
from  a  quarter  that  ever  did  and  always  will  prefer 
to  seek  fortune  and  fame  through  the  call,  rather  than 
the  coercion,  of  any  government. 


328  BLENNERHASSETT. 

"A  further  development  of  my  views  would  at 
present  aggravate  the  trespass  on  your  time  by  this 
letter,  too  much  prolonged,  and  would  besides,  I  hope, 
be  a  guarantee  of  the  perfect  confidence  you  may 
repose  in  my  integrity  in  any  communication  you 
may  be  pleased  to  honor  me  with. 

"  I  shall  await  with  much  anxiety  the  receipt  of 
your  reply,  and  with  warm  interest  in  your  success 
and  prosperity." 

In  what  strong  contrast  is  the  truth  as  stated  by 
Blennerhassett  to  the  fiction  invented  by  Wirt!  The 
seduced,  as  the  fiction  has  it,  is  found  to  be  the  seducer. 
Burr  had  said  no  word,  had  made  no  suggestion  of 
any  design  he  had  in  view  when  Blennerhassett 
appealed  to  him  for  help.  "In  the  midst  of  all  this 
peace,  this  innocence,  this  tranquility,  this  feast  of 
mind,  this  pure  banquet  of  the  heart,  the  destroyer" 
—  poverty  —  had  come.  Blennerhassett  was  plan 
ning  to  escape  from  it.  He  would  sell  all  the 
"enchantments  of  the  scene,"  but  no  purchaser  could 
be  found.  He  would  even  consign  them  to  anyone 
who  could  "afford  the  sacrifice''  of  taking  them,  but 
no  one  would  take  them.  Then  he  sends  out  his  cry 
to  Burr,  "help  or  I  perish."  "I  should  be  honored 
in  being  associated  with  you  in  any  contemplated 
enterprise  you  would  permit  me  to  participate  in." 
I  will  be  your  "  lawyer"  or  "in  any  other  way  you 
should  suggest"  I  will  serve  you. 


BLENNERHASSETT.  329 

But  Burr  did  not  answer  this  appeal  for  almost 
four  months.  And  then  he  had  no  comfort  to  give 
him.  He  had  an  enterprise  in  view,  but  "the  busi 
ness,  however,  depends,  in  some  degree,  on  contin 
gencies  not  within  my  control,  and  will  not  be 
commenced  before  December  or  January,  if  ever." 
"But  I  must  insist  that  these  intimations  be  not 
permitted  to  interrupt  the  prosecution  of  any  plans 
which  you  have  formed  for  yourself."  Whatever 
Burr's  enterprise  might  be,  it  was  evident  it  was  not 
one  in  which  he  wished  Blennerhassett's  participa 
tion.  In  fact  he  goes  so  far  as  to  recommend  him,  if 
he  wishes  to  leave  his  scenes  of  enchantment,  and  go 
into  common  business,  to  remove  to  New  Orleans. 
"  As  a  place  of  business,"  he  tells  him,  "  it  offers  great 
advantages;  most  of  those  who  style  themselves  law 
yers  are  become  visionary  speculators,  or  political 
fanatics." 

Four  months  after  writing  this  letter,  Burr  calls 
and  spends  a  night  with  Blennerhassett,  but  no 
business  is  discussed  at  this  meeting  which  satisfied 
the  ambition  of  the  latter,  or  gave  him  hope  of  any 
engagement  with  Burr.  Still  Blennerhassett  did  not 
entirely  despair.  Two  months  he  remained  in  uncer 
tainty,  then  he  followed  Burr  to  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
and  found  him  in  a  more  accommodating  mood.  Burr 
was  willing  to  take  him  and  his  family  to  his  settle 
ment  on  the  Washita,  and  Blennerhassett  gladly 
accepted  the  offer. 


330  BLENNERHASSETT. 

From  his  interview  with  Burr  at  Lexington  Blen 
nerhassett  hastened  home  to  prepare  for  the  removal 
of  himself  and  family  to  the  proposed  settlement  on 
the  Bastrop  lands.  He  found  on  his  return  that  the 
community  was  becoming  agitated  over  rumors,  then 
beginning  to  be  set  afloat,  of  designs  to  divide  the 
Union.  This  was  in  the  first  week  of  November,  and 
about  the  time  of  Burr's  first  arrest  in  Kentucky. 
Blennerhassett  denied  the  reports  so  far  as  Burr  and 
himself  were  concerned.  He  told  of  the  purchase  of 
the  Bastrop  lands  and  the  proposed  settlement  of 
them  as  the  only  purpose  entertained  by  Burr  and 
himself.  But  the  excitement  increased,  and  when 
Colonel  Tyler  and  his  men.  in  descending  the  river, 
stopped  at  the  island  the  public  feeling  had  become 
dangerous,  and  Blennerhassett  joined  the  party  and 
proceeded  with  it,  leaving  his  wife  and  family  to 
follow. 

After  the  arrest  of  the  expedition  and  the  destruc 
tion  of  Burr's  boats  at  Bayou  Pierre,  in  the  Missis 
sippi  territory,  Blennerhassett  purchased  a  cotton 
plantation,  near  Natchez,  and  settled  with  his  family 
upon  it.  It  was  during  the  following  summer  that 
he  was  arrested  and  taken  to  Eichmond  to  answer 
to  the  indictments  against  him  for  treason  and  mis 
demeanor.  When  Burr  was  tried  and  acquitted  these 
indictments  against  Blennerhassett  were  abandoned, 
and  he  returned  to  his  Mississippi  plantation.  For 
a  time  he  prospered,  but  when  the  embargo  and  the 


BLEXNERHASSETT.  331 

war  of  1812  came  they  brought  ruin  to  cotton-rais 
ing  and  reduced  him  again  almost  to  poverty. 

Ten  years  after  he  settled  in  Mississippi,  he  grew 
impatient  of  the  situation,  and  being  involved  in 
debt,  he  determined  to  sell  his  estate  and  remove  to 
the  city  of  New  York  In  an  advertisement  offering 
his  property  for  sale,  he  describes  it  as  consisting  of 
"One  thousand  acres  of  land,  two  hundred  of  which 
were  under  cultivation,  a  dwelling  house,  orchard 
and  cotton  gin,  with  many  other  improvements,  six 
miles  from  navigation;  also,  twenty-two  negroes,  the 
whole  estimated  at  the  sum  of  $27,000."  This  sale 
enabled  him  to  pay  his  debts  and  have  a  small  balance 
remaining,  which  he  took  with  him  to  New  York 
and  invested  in  bank  stocks.  Here  his  bad  luck,  or 
bad  management,  followed  him,  in  two  or  three  years 
his  capital  was  exhausted,  and  his  means  of  support 
were  gone. 

In  his  distress  a  friend  in  Canada  invited  him  to 
come  to  Montreal,  and  promised  to  procure  him  a 
judgesh ip,  which  would  furnish  salary  enough  to 
support  his  family.  In  desperate  straits,  he  accepted 
the  offer  and  removed  to  Montreal.  Here  again  he 
met  with  disappointment,  the  position  promised  him 
could  not  be  secured,  and  he  was  in  greater  distress 
than  before.  His  capital  now  was  all  gone,  but 
he  remembered  that  upon  the  death  of  a  distant 
relative  in  Ireland,  a  considerable  estate  would  revert 
to  him,  and  on  inquiry  he  found  the  relative  had  long 


332  BLENNERHASSETT. 

been  dead;  he  therefore  prepared  for  a  trip  to  Ire 
land. 

He  returned  to  Ireland  in  1822  to  secure  his 
reversionary  estate,  only  to  find  himself  too  late. 
His  rights  were  outlawed,  and  the  estate  was  lost 
only  from  negligence.  He  then  made  application 
for  an  appointment  under  the  British  government, 
depending  for  assistance,  in  this,  upon  some  old 
friends  and  distant  relatives,  whose  influence,  he 
thought,  could  obtain  all  he  wished.  But  he  had 
been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  absent,  and  was 
almost  or  quite  forgotten  by  them.  But  above  all 
he  was  poor,  and  that  was  a  crime  they  could  not 
condone.  He  could  get  nothing,  not  even  the  hum 
blest  position.  He  spent  three  years  in  this  fruitless 
effort;  then  he  returned  to  Canada,  and  removed  his 
wife  and  youngest  son  to  England,  where  a  maiden 
sister  of  his  own  received  them  to  share  her  small 
income.  Here  they  remained  a  few  years,  when,  his 
health  failing,  he  was  taken  to  the  island  of  Guernsey, 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  benefited  by  it.  He 
had,  before  leaving  England,  two  or  three  attacks  of 
paralysis,  and  these  continued  until  on  the  1st  day  of 
February,  1831,  he  died,  in  his  sixty-third  year. 

Among  the  charges  against  Burr,  commonly 
believed,  are  that  he  beguiled  Blennerhassett  into 
joining  his  expedition,  and  ruined  him  financially. 
We  have  seen  by  Blennerhassett's  own  statements 
how  false  is  the  first  charge;  let  us  now  examine  the 


BLEXXEKHASSETT.  333 

second.  Blennerhassett,  in  his  diary  kept  during  the 
trial  at  Richmond,  and  under  date  of  October  10th, 
1807,  says:  "I  have  to-day  spent  much  time  in 
painful  reflections  on  the  state  of  my  affairs  with 
Burr.  It  appears  from  a  statement  of  my  private 
account  with  him,  so  far  as  I  now  can  collect  all  my 
charges  against  him  here,  for  he  has  but  two  credits, 
he  is  indebted  to  me  in  a  balance  of  $2,864.96,  inde 
pendent  of  my  account  against  him,  for  what  I  have 
paid  and  lost,  by  my  indorsement  of  the  bill  held  by 
Miller  for  $4,000.  It  will  be  useless,  or  worse,  for 
me  to  appear  at  Marietta  without  a  sum  of  money, 
if  not  sufficient  to  discharge  Miller's  claim,  at  least 
necessary  to  enable  me  to  get  my  negroes  away  from 
Ohio,  if  that  is  now  possible,  and  to  redeem  some  few 
valuable  articles  of  my  property  that  have  been  sac 
rificed  at  sheriff's  sales."  It  appears  from  this  that 
after  the  trial  at  Richmond  Burr  owed  Blennerhassett 
$2,864.96  for  money  received,  and  for  an  indorsement 
of  $4,000  the  latter  made  for  him  and  was  com 
pelled  to  pay.  This  would  aggregate  $6,864.96.  For 
this  indebtedness  and  for  losses  sustained,  Governor 
Alston  paid  in  full  discharge  to  Blennerhassett  the 
sum  of  $12,500  soon  after  the  trials  were  ended. 

At  the  time  of  this  payment  by  Alston,  which 
was  intended  to  cover  all  legal  claims  held  by  Blen 
nerhassett  against  Burr  and  all  losses  sustained  by 
him  in  the  sacrifice  of  property  sold  to  pay  the  in 
dorsement  he  had  made  for  Burr,  being  a  very  liberal 


334  BLENNERHASSETT. 

allowance  for  that  purpose,  Blennerhassett  was  en 
tirely  satisfied.  He  could  not  be  otherwise,  for  Al 
ston,  anxious  to  keep  Burr  from  all  censure,  was 
unusually  liberal  in  his  settlement  with  Blennerhas 
sett.  Some  four  years  afterward  Alston  was  sur 
prised  and  disgusted  with  an  attempt  upon  the  part 
of  Blennerhassett  to  blackmail  him  for  a  large  sum  in 
addition  to  what  he  had  received.  He  placed  his 
losses  at  $50,000,  with  no  specifications  whatever, 
and  admitting  the  receipt  of  $12,500,  demanded  the 
additional  sum  of  $37,500.  He  says:  he  had  "sus 
tained  damages  to  the  amount  of  $50,000,  of  which 
sum  I  now  demand  $15,000,  payable  at  New  Orleans 
or  Philadelphia,  in  August  next.  The  respective 
sums  you  have  paid  already  in  part  discharge  of  your 
written  obligation,  I  believe,  $12,500,  together  with 
the  $15,000  now  required,  will  leave  a  balance  of 
$22,500,  which  you  may,  if  you  please,  adjust  by 
your  obligation,  on  receipt  of  which,  if  required,  I 
will  dismiss  my  demand  against  Burr  by  suit  in 
Philadelphia." 

This  was  Blennerhassett's  modest  demand  after  he 
had  already  been  paid  nearly  double  the  amount  owed 
to  him,  as  he  stated  the  amount  due,  in  his  diary  on 
October  10, 1807,  before  which  all  connection  between 
himself  and  Burr  had  ceased.  Blennerhassett  knew 
he  had  no  claim  against  Alston,  who  was  wealthy  and 
entirely  responsible  for  the  amount  claimed,  if  he 
had  been  owing  it,  and  Burr's  debt  had  been  paid 


BLENNERHASSETT.  335 

and  overpaid.  He,  therefore,  does  not  threaten  suit, 
but  resorts  to  blackmailing  tactics.  In  short,  he  pro 
poses  to  publish  a  book  which  will  implicate  Colonel 
Alston  in  his  own  and  Burr's  enterprises,  and  that 
being  proclaimed  "to  the  honest  Democratic  electors 
of  South  Carolina,  who  thence  will  remove  you  from 
the  chair  of  their  assembly  with  a  different  kind  of 
zeal  from  that  through  which  they  placed  you  in  it." 
And  declares  that  unless  Alston  will  pay  the  sum  de 
manded  he  will  publish  this  book  and  disgrace  him, 
but  if  the  payment  is  made  the  book  will  be  sup 
pressed. 

He  says  :  "  I  have  to  add  that  I  have  no  doubt 
of  my  book's  producing  $10,000,  if  you  do  not  think 
proper  to  prevent  its  appearance,"  but  intimates  that 
it  will  certainly  appear  if  the  sum  of  money  is  not 
paid,  which  he  claims  is  due  him.  It  was  a  miserable 
attempt  at  blackmail,  and  Alston  properly  treated  it 
with  contempt  and  did  not  notice  it.  He  had  paid, 
without  uny  legal  obligation  to  do  so,  the  entire  debt 
that  Burr  owed  Blennerhassett,  and,  in  addition,  a 
liberal  sum  to  cover  losses.  For  the  destruction  of 
his  property  by  the  government  Burr  was  not  liable 
any  more  than  Blennerhassett  was  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  Burr's  property  by  the  government. 

After  Burr's  return  from  Europe  Blennerhassett 
renewed  his  demand,  and  wrote  Burr  as  follows :  "  My 
losses,  Gov.  Alston  may  have  stated  to  you,  I  estimate 
at  850,000,  of  which  his  Excellency  has  already 


336  BLENNERHASSETT. 

reimbursed,  I  believe,  $12,500,  and  it  is  very  probable 
nothing  short  of  the  publication  of  my  book,  hitherto 
postponed  only  by  sickness,  will  bring  me  any  part 
of  the  balance,  so  long  sought  in  vain  from  his  honor 
and  engagements.  His  well-earned  election  to  the 
chief  executive  office  of  his  state,  and  your  return 
from  Europe,  will,  however,  now  render  the  publica 
tion  more  effective  than  it  would  have  been  prior  to 
these  events,  and  it  will  be  expedited  within  three 
months  from  this  date,  if  all  other  means  of  indemnity 
fail  within  that  period. 

u  I  would  still  agree  to  accept  from  any  other 
source  $15,000  in  lieu  of  the  balance  I  claim  of  $37,- 
500,  and,  of  course,  withhold  the  book,  which  is 
entitled  'A  Eeview  of  the  Projects  and  Intrigues  of 
Aaron  Burr,  during  the  years  1805-6-7,  including 
therein,  as  parties  or  privies,  Thos.  Jefferson,  Albert 
Gallatin,  Dr.  Eustis,  Gov.  Alston,  Dan.  Clark,  Gen 
erals  Wilkinson,  Dearborn,  Harrison,  Jackson  and 
Smith,  and  the  late  Spanish  Ambassador,  exhibiting 
original  documents  and  correspondence  hitherto 
unpublished,  compiled  from  the  notes  and  private 
journal  kept  during  the  above  period  by  H.  Blenner- 
hassett,  LL.B.,  with  this  motto,  which  will  find 
applicability  in  every  page  of  the  book:  <;It  is  only 
the  philosopher  who  knows  how  to  mark  the  boundary 
between  celebrity  and  greatness."  ' 

"You  will  now,  sir,  I  hope,  perceive  distinctly 
upon  what  terms  I  would  execute  a  general  acquit- 


BLENNERHASSETT.  337 

tance  to  Orov.  Alston  and  yourself.  I  have  long  since 
abandoned  every  chance  of  reimbursement  from 
either  of  you,  unless  I  should  succeed  in  forcing  the 
object  through  the  alarms  of  his  Excellency,  or  the 
fears  and  interest  of  other  characters." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Blennerhassett  resorted  to 
means  so  despicable  to  extort  money  from  Governor 
Alston,  who,  out  of  pure  sympathy,  had  in  paying 
Burr's  debt  to  him  paid  him  several  thousand  dollars 
more  than  Burr  legally  or  equitably  owed  him.  The 
despotic  conduct  of  the  government  had  impoverished 
Burr,  and  almost  impoverished  Blennerhassett,  still 
the  latter  had  secured  enough  to  purchase  a  thousand 
acre  farm  and  stock  it  with  slaves,  on  which  he 
might  have  lived  comfortably  but  for  his  own  mis 
management.  Burr  had  absolutely  nothing  left  him 
but  the  debts  he  was  owing.  The  wanton  destruction 
of  Burr's  property  when  he  was  guilty  of  no  crime 
was  a  disgrace  to  the  government. 

Mrs.  Blennerhassett  was  in  most  respects  in  strik 
ing  contrast  to  her  husband.  She  was  endowed  in 
an  eminent  degree  with  strong  practical  sense.  To 
a  brilliant  mind  were  added  personal  beauty  and 
great  physical  endurance.  She  has  been  described 
as  above  medium  height,  bright,  sparkling  dark  blue 
eyes,  graceful  and  dignified  manners,  a  complexion 
the  carnation  hue  of  which  could  be  painted  only 
by  the  hand  of  nature.  Safford,  who  had  his  de 
scription  from  those  who  knew  her,  says:  ''Her 


BLENNERHASSETT. 

mind  was  not  less  polished  than  her  manners;  and 
the  fluency  with   which    she  wrote  and  spoke  the 
French  and  Italian  languages  indicated  a  high  degree 
of  cultivation,   to  which  few  in  this  golden  age  of 
science  and  letters  have  ever  attained."     But  it  was 
in  her  every-day  life  that   her  true  character  was 
more  perfectly  developed.     Keared  amid  luxury  and 
ease,  she  readily  adapted  herself  to  the  hardship  of 
pioneer  life.     Her  household  duties  were  never  neg 
lected,  yet  she  had  time  for  outdoor  duties.     She  was 
the  most  accomplished  equestrienne  in  the  country, 
and  could  also  walk,  without  apparent  fatigue,  twenty 
miles  at  a  ti me.     When  her  husband  was  absent,  after 
their  removal  to  Mississippi,  she  managed  the  planta 
tion  with  greater  profit  than  he  did  when  in  charge. 
After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Blennerhas- 
sett,  with  broken  health  and  a  dependent  son,  re 
solved  to  return  to  the  United  States  and  seek  in 
demnity  for  the  wanton  destruction  of  her  home,  by 
the  Wood  county  militia  acting  under  orders  of  the 
general  government.     It  was  certainly  a  just  claim, 
for  nothing  was  ever  shown  to  justify  the  unlawful 
act.     «  The  agents  of  the  president,"  as  Safford  states 
it,  "  had  not  only  detained  the  boats  and  stores  pre 
pared  for  the  enterprise  of  Burr,  but  had  actually 
destroyed  the  former  and  consumed  the  latter.    They 
had  invaded  the  sanctity  of  her  household ;  had  ap 
propriated  to  themselves  and  wasted  her  provisions; 
broken  her  furniture ;  laid  waste  the  gardens;  torn 


BLENNEKHASSETT.  339 

down  the  fences,  and  had  done  serious  injury  to  the 
mansion.  They  had  put  Blennerhassett  to  an  enor 
mous  expense  in  defending  himself  at  Eichmond ; 
they,  in  fact,  had  reduced  him  from  affluence  to  com 
parative  poverty." 

In  1842,  while  residing  in  New  York,  in  great 
poverty,  with  an  invalid  son,  she  memorialized  con 
gress,  stating  her  claim  and  asking  reimbursement 
for  her  losses.  We  give  from  this  modest  petition 
the  following  extracts :  "  Your  memorialist  does  not 
desire  to  exaggerate  the  conduct  of  the  said  armed 
men  or  the  injuries  done  by  them  ;  but  she  can  truly 
say  that  before  their  visit  the  residence  of  her  family 
had  been  noted  for  its  elegance  and  high  state  of 
improvement,  and  that  they  left  it  in  a  comparative 
state  of  ruin  and  waste.  And,  as  instances  of  the 
mischievous  and  destructive  spirit  which  appeared 
to  govern  them,  she  would  mention  that,  while  they 
occupied  as  a  guard  room  one  of  the  best  apartments 
in  the  house,  the  building  of  which  cost  nearly  forty 
thousand  dollars,  a  musket  or  rifle  ball  was  delib 
erately  fired  into  the  ceiling,  by  which  it  was  de 
faced  and  injured  ;  and  that  they  wantonly  destroyed 
many  pieces  of  valuable  furniture.  She  would  also 
state  that,  being  apparently  under  no  restraint,  they 
indulged  in  continual  drunkenness  and  riot,  offering 
many  indignities  to  your  memorialist  and  treating 
her  domestics  with  violence. 

••These  outrages  were  committed  upon  an  unof- 


340  BLENNERHASSETT. 

fending  and  defenseless  family,  in  the  absence  of  their 
natural  protector,  your  memorialist's  husband  being 
then  away  from  home;  and  that,  in  answer  to  such 
remonstrances  as  she  ventured  to  make  against  the 
consumption,  waste  and  destruction  of  his  property, 
she  was  told  by  those  who  assumed  to  have  the  com 
mand  that  they  held  the  property  for  the  United 
States,  by  order  of  the  president,  and  were  privileged 
to  use  it  and  should  use  it  as  they  pleased.  It  is 
with  pain  that  your  memorialist  reverts  to  events 
which,  in  their  consequences,  have  reduced  a  once 
happy  family  from  affluence  and  comfort  to  compara 
tive  want  and  wretchedness ;  which  blighted  the  pros 
pects  of  her  children  and  made  herself,  in  the  decline 
of  life,  a  wanderer  on  the  face  of  the  earth. " 

Eobert  Emmet,  a  nephew  of  the  Irish  martyr, 
took  much  interest  in  this  application  of  Mrs. 
Blennerhassett  for  long  delayed  restitution  for  the 
ruthless  destruction  of  her  home,  by  order  of  the 
government.  He  placed  her  memorial  in  charge  of 
Henry  Clay,  telling  him  that  "Mrs.  Blennerhassett 
is  now  in  this  (New  York)  city,  residing  in  very 
destitute  circumstances,  bestowing  her  cares  on  a  son, 
who,  by  long  poverty  and  sickness,  is  reduced  to 
utter  imbecility,  both  of  body  and  mind,  unable  to 
assist  her  or  provide  for  his  own  wants.  In  her 
present  destitute  situation,  the  smallest  amount  of 
relief  would  be  thankfully  received  by  her.  Her 
condition  is  one  of  absolute  want,  and  she  has  but  a 


BLENNERHASSETT.  341 

short  time  left  to  enjoy  any  better  fortune  in  this 
world." 

Henry  Clay  eloquently  advocated  the  prayer  of 
this  memorialist,  and  a  favorable  report  was  made 
from  the  committee  to  which  it  had  been  referred, 
the  report  saying  the  claim  was  just  and  ought  to  be 
paid,  closing  with  "Not  to  do  so  would  be  unworthy 
a  wise  or  just  nation."  Eestitution  would  doubtless 
have  been  made  after  so  many  years,  but  before  final 
action  was  taken  by  congress,  Mrs.  Blennerhassett 
died,  destitute  and  friendless,  the  victim  of  an  unholy 
revenge. 

It  will  be  seen  from  Blennerhassett's  own  state 
ment  that  Burr  made  no  attempt  to  induce  him  to 
join  in  either  of  his  enterprises  until  after  the  aban 
donment  of  the  Mexican  expedition,  on  Blennerhas 
sett's  insistance,  he  accepted  him  as  a  partner  in  the 
project  of  the  settlement  of  the  Washita  lands.  It 
is  also  shown  by  Blennerhassett's  acknowledgment 
that  Alston,  for  Burr,  repaid  him  all  Burr  owed  him, 
including  his  losses  from  indorsing  for  Burr.  Blen 
nerhassett's  attempts,  afterwards,  to  blackmail  Alston, 
by  threats  to  disgrace  him  if  he  did  not  pay  the 
damages  done  to  his  property  by  order  of  the  govern 
ment,  shows  how  entirely  his  losses  had  disordered 
his  mind,  if  indeed  he  ever  did  possess  sound  prin 
ciples.  And  this  condition  of  mind  fully  explains 
his  unwarranted  detractions  of  Burr  and  others  in 
his  later  life. 


342  BLEXNEKHASSETT. 

But  however  this  may  be  there  is  no  excuse  for 
the  wanton  destruction  of  Blennerbassett's  island 
home  by  order  of  the  government.  It  was  an  out 
rage  that  none  but  vandals  could  have  committed 
and  only  a  despot  could  have  ordered.  Blennerhas- 
sett  had  been,  for  the  eight  or  ten  years  he  had 
resided  on  his  island,  a  quiet,  peaceful,  law  abiding 
citizen.  He  was  entitled  to  be  treated  as  such.  If 
crime  of  any  kind  was  imputed  to  him,  he  had  the 
right,  guaranteed  to  every  citizen,  of  a  fair  trial  and 
conviction  before  punishment  should  be  awarded, 
and  then  the  punishment  should  have  been  only  such 
as  the  law  prescribed.  There  was  just  as  much  law 
ful  right  for  shooting  Blennerhassett  and  his  family 
to  death  as  there  was  for  destroying  his  home  and 
his  means  of  support,  as  was  done  by  the  military 
authorities  of  Wood  county,  Virginia,  as  they  claimed 
by  orders  from  the  government,  even  if  he  had  been 
guilty  of  the  crime  alleged.  There  never  was  a 
greater  outrage  perpetrated  in  any  civilized  country 
than  that  against  Burr  and  all  who  were  supposed  to 
be  connected  with  him. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 


Returns  to  His  Profession  —  Does  a  Large  General  Business  —  His  Daugh 
ter's  Death  — His  Great  Grief —  Has  Many  Friends,  but  Avoids  Gen 
eral  Society  — His  Religious  Views— His  Moials  — His  Correspond 
ence  —  His  Illness  —  His  Death  and  Burial. 


Burr  lived  nearly  thirty  years  after  the  ruin  in 
reputation  brought  upon  him  by  Jefferson's  vindictive 
persecution  —  busy,  active,  useful  years,  saddened 
by  the  terrible  tragedy  of  his  daughter's  death,  but 
never  desponding  or  despairing,  never  complaining 
of  his  great  sorrow  or  his  deep  disgrace.  Self-reliant, 
he  sought  no  sympathy  and  would  permit  nothing 
like  condolence.  Friends  he  had,  true  and  faithful 
to  the  end.  With  these  he  was  content  and  gave  no 
heed  to  the  prejudice  of  the  great  world  around  him. 
One  of  these  friends,  who  spent  six  years,  from  1814 
to  1820,  as  clerk  and  student  in  his  office,  and  in 
daily  intercourse  with  him,  has  left  a  record  of  his  • 
life  and  manners,  from  which  we  make  some  brief 
extracts.  Judge  John  Greenwood  says : 

"His  industry  was  of  the  most  remarkable  char 
acter.     Indeed  it  may  with  truth  be  said  that  he  was 

(343) 


344  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

never  idle.  He  was  always  employed  in  some  way, 
and,  what  is  more,  required  every  one  under  him  to 
be  so.  Sometimes,  in  coming  through  the  office  and 
observing  that  I  was  not  at  work,  as  I  might  not 
have  been  at  the  moment,  he  would  say,  '  Master 
John,  can't  you  find  something  to  do?'  although  it 
is  safe  to  say  no  clerk  in  an  office  was  ever  more 
constantly  worked  than  I  was.  He  would  rise  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  devote  himself  to  busi 
ness  all  day — for  he  had  a  large  general  practice  — 
and  usually  retired  to  rest  not  sooner  than  twelve 
or  half-past  twelve  at  night.  In  this  way  he  would 
accomplish  a  vast  amount  of  work.  His  persever- 
ence  and  indefatigability,  too,  were  strikingly  char 
acteristic.  No  plan  or  purpose  once  formed  was 
ever  abandoned,  and  no  amount  of  labor  could  dis 
courage  him  or  cause  him  to  desist.  To  begin  a 
work  was,  with  him,  to  finish  it.  How  widely  in  this 
respect  he  differed  from  some  professional  men  of  his 
own  and  the  present  day,  I  need  hardly  say.  I 
could  recur  to  some  greatly  his  juniors  in  years,  who 
were  and  are  his  opposites  in  this  respect.  He  was 
for  having  a  thing  done,  too,  as  soon  as  it  could  be, 
and  not,  as  some  have  erroneously  supposed,  for  see 
ing  how  long  it  could  be  put  off  before  it  was  begun. 
"But  I  must  say  a  word  of  his  manner  in  court. 
He  seemed  in  the  street  and  everywhere  in  public 
to  be  strongly  conscious  that  he  was  a  mark  of  ob 
servation —  to  some  of  curiosity,  to  others  of  hostile 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  345 

or  suspicious  regard.  Carrying  this  feeling  into  a 
court  room,  his  manner  was  somewhat  reserved, 
though  never  submissive,  and  he  used  no  unnecessary 
words.  He  would  present  at  once  the  main  point 
of  his  case,  and  as  his  preparation  was  thorough, 
he  would  usually  be  successful.  If  he  thought  his 
dignity  assailed  in  any  manner,  even  inferentially, 
his  rebuke  was  withering  in  the  cutting  sarcasm  of 
its  few  words  and  the  lightning  glance  of  his  terrible 
eyes,  which  few  could  withstand.  I  may  say  in  this 
connection  that  his  self-possession,  under  the  most 
trying  circumstances,  was  wonderful,  and  that  he 
probably  never  knew  what  it  was  to  fear  a  human 
being. 

"  If  there  was  anything  which  Burr's  proud  spirit 
supremely  despised,  it  was  a  mean,  prying  curiosity. 
He  early  inculcated  on  me  the  lesson  never  to  read  an 
opened  letter  addressed  to  another,  which  might  be 
lying  in  my  way,  and  never  to  look  over  another 
who  was  writing  a  letter.  It  was  one  of  my  duties 
to  copy  his  letters,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  indig 
nant  and  withering  look  which,  on  one  occasion,  he 
gave  to  a  person  in  the  office,  who  endeavored  to  see 
what  I  was  copying.  Neither  would  he  tolerate  any 
impertinent  staring  or  gazing  at  him  as  if  to  spy  out 
his  secret  thoughts  and  reflections. 

"  YQU  will  be  glad  to  hear  me  say  something  of 
his  very  fascinating  powers  in  conversation.  It  may 
seem  strange,  if  not  incredible,  that  a  man  who  had 


346  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

passed  through  such  vicissitudes  as  he  had,  and  who 
must  have  had  such  a  crowd  of  early  and  pressing 
memories  on  his  mind,  should  be  able  to  preserve  a 
uniform  serenity,  and  even  cheerfulness,  but  such  is 
the  fact.  His  manners  were  courtly  and  his  carriage 
graceful,  and  he  had  a  winning  smile  in  moments  of 
pleasant  intercourse,  which  seemed  almost  to  charm 
you.  He  would  laugh,  too,  sometimes,  as  if  his  heart 
was  bubbling  with  joy,  and  its  effects  were  irresist 
ible.  Nobody  could  tell  a  story  or  an  anecdote 
better  than  he  did  himself.  Yet,  where  spirit  and  a 
determined  manner  were  required,  probably  no  man 
ever  showed  them  more  effectively. 

"  Qol.  Burr  was  u  social  man  ;  that  is,  he  liked  the 
company  of  a  friend,  and  would  spend  a  half  hour 
with  him  in  conversation  most  agreeably.  He  was 
very  fond  of  young  company.  Children  were 
delighted  with  him.  He  not  only  took  an  interest 
in  their  sports,  but  conciliated  them,  and  attached 
them  to  him  by  presents. 

"He  was  very  fond  of  alluding  to  events  in  his 
military  life.  Indeed,  I  think  that  he  chiefly  prided 
himself  upon  his  military  character.  His  counsel 
was  much  sought  by  foreigners  engaged  in  revolu 
tionary  enterprises,  who  happened  to  be  in  New 
York;  and  during  the  period  of  the  revolution  in 
Caraccas,  Generals  Carrera  and  Ribas,  who  took  part 
in  it,  and  during  its  existence  visited  New  York, 
were  on  very  intimate  terms  with  him.  The  former 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  347 

was  a  gentleman  of  great  talent,  but  of  modest  and 
retired  bearing. 

"TJiare.are  some  who  suppose  Colonel  Burr  had 
no  virtues.^  This  is  a  mistake.  He  was  true  in  his 
friendships,  and  would  go  any  length  to  serve  a 
friend;  and  he  had  also  the  strongest  affections.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  incidents  concerning  the  loss 
of  his  daughter  Theodosia,  the  wife  of  Governor 
Alston,  of  South  Carolina.  Soon  after  Colonel  Burr's 
return  from  Europe  to  New  York,  he  arranged  for 
her  to  come  on  and  visit  him,  and  she  set  out,  as  is 
known,  from  Georgetown  in  a  small  schooner,  called 
the  Patriot.  Timothy  Green,  a  retired  lawyer  in 
New  York,  a  most  worthy  man  and  an  old  friend  of 
Colonel  Burr,  went  on  by  land  to  accompany  her. 
The  fact  of  the  departure  of  the  vessel,  with  his 
daughter  and  Mr.  Green  on  board,  was  communicated 
by  letter  from  Governor  Alston  to  Colonel  Burr,  and 
he  looked  forward  with  anticipations  of  joy  to  the 
meeting  which,  after  so  many  years  of  separation, 
was  to  take  place  between  himself  and  his  dear  child. 
A  full  time  for  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  at  New  York 
elapsed,  but  she  did  not  come.  As  day  after  day 
passed,  and  nothing  was  seen  or  heard  of  the  vessel 
or  his  daughter,  that  face,  which  before  had  shown 
no  gloom  or  sadness,  began  to  exhibit  the  sign  of 
deep  and  deeper  concern.  Every  means  was  resorted 
to  to  obtain  information,  but  no  tidings  were  ever 


348  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

heard  of  the  vessel  or  of  her  upon  whom  all  the 
affections  of  his  nature  had  been  bestowed. 

"  ;llope  deferred '  did  in  this  case,  indeed,  make 
sick  and  nearly  crush  the  heart.  His  symbol,  which 
he  loved  occasionally  to  stamp  upon  the  seal  of  a 
letter,  was  a  rock  in  the  tern  pest- tossed  ocean,  which 
neither  wind  nor  wave  could  move.  But  his  firm 
and  manly  nature,  which  no  danger  or  reverse,  nor 
any  of  the  previous  circumstances  of  his  life,  had 
been  able  to  shake,  was  giving  way.  It' was  inter 
esting,  though  painful,  to  witness  his  struggle,  but 
he  did  rise  superior  to  his  grief,  and  the  light  once 
more  shone  upon  his  countenance.  But  it  was  ever 
after  a  subdued  light. 

"His  married  life  with  Mrs.  Prevost  (who  had 
died  before  I  went  into  his  office)  was  of  the  most 
affectionate  character,  and  his  fidelity  never ^questioned. 
There  is  another  thing,  too,  which  I  add  to  his 
credit.  He  was  always  a  gentleman  in  his  language 
and  deportment.  Nothing  of  a  low,' ribald,  indecent 
or  even  indelicate  character  ever  escaped  his  lips. 
He  had  no  disposition  to  corrupt  others.  One  other 
thing  I  will  add  in  this  connection.  Colonel  Burr 
in  everything  relating  to  business,  and,  indeed,  in 
all  his  epistolary  correspondence  with  men,  had  a 
special  regard  to  the  maxim  that  'things  written  re 
main,'  and  wag  very  careful  as  to  what  he  wrote. 

"  I  must  point  to  one  admirable  arid  strong-char 
acteristic  in  him.  He  sought  with  young  men,  in 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  349 

whom  be  fell  an  interest,  to  graft  them  as  it  were 
with  his  indomitable  will,  energy  and  perseverance. 
I  can  truly  say  that,  although  I  was  often  overtaxed 
beyond  my  powers,  and  even  to  the  injury  no  doubt 
of  my  health,  so  that  his  course  seemed  to  me  then 
to  be  over-exacting  and  oppre-sive,  yet  that  he  con 
stantly  incited  me  to  progress  in  all  the  various 
modes  and  departments  of  mental  culture,  even  in 
music,  the  influence  of  which  he  deemed  of  great 
importance,  although  he  had  but  little  taste  for  and 
no  knowledge  of  it  himself;  and  that  my  success  in 
life,  so  far  as  I  have  succeeded,  has  been  owing  to 
the  habits  of  industry  and  perseverance  which  were 
formed  under  his  training." 

In  after  years  Burr  never  hesitated  to  talk  freely 
to  his  ffieiidslaBput  his  intentions,  in  the  years 
1805-6.  He  had  no  motives  for  concealment,  and 
no  desire  for  any,  and  entered  fully  into  the  details 
of  his  former  projects.  His  first  and  great  desire 
was  the  revolutionizing  of  Mexico,  somewhat  on  the 
same  ptona  Hamilton  had  entertained  for  the  "lib 
eration  of  South  America."  His  second  purpose  was 
the  settlement  of  his  Washita  lands.  The  difficul 
ties  existing  in  1806  between  this  country  and  Spain, 
and  the  assurance  of  Wilkinson  that  a  war  was  in 
evitable,  induced  Burr  to  believe  that  the  time  had 
come  for  the  realization  of  his  long  cherished  dream 
of  conquest.  If  the  war  came,  Wilkinson  was  to  ad 
vance  with  his  small  army  of  six  hundred  well-trained 


350  BURR'S   LATER   LIFE. 

soldiers,  and  Burr  would  appeal  to  the  patriotism 
of  the  western  states  for  a  volunteer  force  to  follow 
the  regular  troops  as  soon  as  possible.  Burr  never 
dreamed  of  invading  Mexico  with  untrained  volun- 
reers  alone.  He  always  said  it  would  have  been 
folly  to  do  so;  he  depended  upon  Wilkinson's  dis 
ciplined  soldiers  as  a  nucleus  around  which  his  raw 
recruits  could  be  formed  until  they  were  trained. 
Such  were  Burr's  plans  during  the  summer  of  1806, 
but  he  could  make  no  movement  until  he  was  ad 
vised  by  Wilkinson  that  he  was  about  to  strike  the 
enemy  and  thus  inaugurate  a  war  the  western  people 
were  all  so  ardently  hoping  for.  It  was  not  until 
October  of  that  year  that  Burr's  disappointment  came 
with  Wilkinson's  treachery. 

Burr  had  made  no  attempt  at  enlisting  men  for 
the  Mexican  expedition ;  be  did  not  propose  to  do  so 
until  the  declaration  of  war  would  arouse  the  war 
spirit  of  the  people,  when,  he  believed,  volunteers  in 
sufficient  number  could  readily  be  secured.  But  he 
spent  much  time  in  consultation  with  General  Jackson, 
General  Adair,  and  others  of  the  class  who  would  be 
leaders  in  the  enterprise,  maturing  plans  and  arrang 
ing  for  means  to  accomplish  the  purpose.  It  seems 
never  to  have  occurred  to  the  American  people  that 
Burr  was  not  alone  in  this  enterprise.  If  he  had  been 
it  would  have  been  the  most  helpless  and  hopeless 
expedition  ever  devised.  Burr  never  dreamed  of 
undertaking  it  alone.  He  had  the  advice,  the  coun- 


BURR'S   LATER   LIFE.  351 

sel,  and  in  some  instances  the  proffered  assistance,  of 
some  of  the  best  men  of  the  country.  Andrew 
Jackson  had  pledged  him  to  join  the  Mexican  expe 
dition,  to  "join  and  accompany  him  with  his  whole 
division."  Adair  could  not  go  in  person,  but  he 
would  "provide  a  respectable  contingent."  And 
many  others  of  lesser  note  were  only  awaiting  the 
call  to  war  to  declare  themselves.  But  they  were  all 
waiting  for  war.  They  did  not  intend  to  inaugurate 
war,  or  invade  a  friendly  nation.  But  if  war  came 
they  would  be  in  its  midst.  It  seems  strange  that 
a  people  who  so  universally  heaped  their  highest 
honors  upon  Andrew  Jackson  would  never  believe 
him  when  he  declared  he  personally  knew  that  Burr 
contemplated  nothing  wrong  or  unlawful.  But  preju 
dice  is  the  most  incomprehensible  vice  existing  among 
men. 

Of  Burr's  life  after  his  return  from  Europe  the 
general  belief  is  that  it  was  passed  in  obscurity  and 
poverty,  himself  unhonored  and  unknown.  This  is 
untrue.  He  was,  until  broken  by  years,  a  busy, 
active  and  successful  lawyer;  some  of  his  best  work 
in  his  profession  was  during  this  time.  His  life 
was  not  a  secluded  one,  nor  was  he  without  the 
association  and  friendship  of  many  of  the  best  people 
of  the  city.  He  did  not  seek  general  society,  but  his 
observation  included  all  passing  events  of  public 
interest.  Entirely  withdrawn  from  politics,  he  still 
watched  party  conflicts  with  close  attention  and 


352  BURR'S  LATER   LIFE. 

thorough  understanding  of  party  tactics.  He  never 
forgave  the  "Virginia  dynasty,"  by  whose  machina 
tions  he  was  driven  from  public  life.  When  he  found 
this  dominating  power  maneuvering  to  place  Monroe 
in  nomination  for  the  presidency,  to  succeed  Madison, 
and  thus  continue  their  own  dominance,  he  was  the 
first  to  propose  an  opposition.  He  wrote  to  Governor 
Alston  in  November,  1815,  urging  him  to  present 
General  Andrew  Jackson  as  an  opposing  candidate. 
He  said  in  part,  "A  certain  junto  of  actual  and  ficti 
tious  Virginians,  having  had  possession  of  the  govern 
ment  for  twenty-four  years,  consider  the  United 
States  as  their  property,  and,  by  bawling  'Support 
the  Administration,'  have  so  long  succeeded  in  duping 
the  republican  public.  One  of  their  principal  arts, 
and  one  which  has  been  systematically  taught  by 
Jefferson,  is  that  of  promoting  state  dissensions,  not 
between  Republican  and  Federal  —  that  would  do 
them  no  good  —  but  schisms  in  the  Republican  party. 
By  looking  round  you  will  see  how  the  attention  of 
leading  men  in  the  different  states  has  thus  been 
turned  from  general  and  state  politics.  Let  not  this 
disgraceful  domination  continue. 

"  Independently  of  the  manner  of  the  nomination 
and  the  location  of  the  candidate,  the  man  himself 
is  one  of  the  most  improper  and  incompetent  that 
could  be  selected.  Naturally  dull  and  stupid ;  ex 
tremely  illiterate ;  indecisive  to  a  degree  that  would 
be  incredible  to  one  who  did  not  know  him ;  pusil- 


BURR'S   LATER   LIFE.  353 

lanimous  and,  of  course,  hypocritical ;  has  no  opinion 
on  any  subject,  and  will  be  always  under  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  worst  men  ;  pretends,  as  I  am  told, 
to  some  knowledge  of  military  matters,  but  never 
commanded  a  platoon  nor  was  ever  fit  to  command 
one.  He  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war  —  that  is, 
he  acted  a  short  time  as  aid-de-camp  to  Lord  Stirl 
ing,  who  was  regularly  .  Monroe's 
whole  duty  was  to  fill  his  lordship's  tankard  and 
hear,  with  indications  of  admiration,  his  lordship's 
long  stories  about  himself.  Such  is  Monroe's  mili 
tary  experience.  I  was  with  my  regiment  in  the 
same  division  at  the  same  time.  As  a  lawyer  Mon 
roe  was  far  below  mediocrity.  He  never  rose  to  the 
honor  of  trying  a  cause  of  the  value  of  a  hundred 
pounds.  This  is  a  character  exactly  suited  to  the 
views  of  the  Virginia  junto. 

"  To  this  junto  you  have  twice  sacrificed  yourself, 
and  what  have  you  got  by  it?  Their  hatred  and 
abhorrence.  Did  you  ever  know  them  to  counte 
nance  a  man  of  talents  and  independence  ?  Xever  — 
nor  ever  will. 

"  It  is  time  that  you  manifested  that  you  had  some 
individual  character :  some  opinion  of  your  own  ;  some 
influence  to  support  that  opinion.  Make  them  fear 
you,  and  they  will  be  at  your  feet.  Thus  far  they 
have  reason  to  believe  that  you  fear  them. 

"  The  moment  is  extremely  auspicious  for  break 
ing  down  this  degrading  system.  The  best  citizens 


354  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

of  our  country  acknowledge  the  feebleness  of  our 
administration.  They  acknowledge  that  offices  are 
bestowed  merely  to  preserve  power  and  without  the 
smallest  regard  to  fitness.  If,  then,  there  be  a  man 
in  the  United  States  of  firmness  and  decision  and 
having  standing  enough  to  afford  even  a  hope  of 
success,  it  is  your  duty  to  hold  him  up  to  public 
view;  that  man  is  Andrew  Jackson.  Nothing  is  want 
ing  but  a  respectable  nomination,  made  before  the 
proclamation  of  the  Virginia  caucus,  and  Jackson's 
success  is  inevitable. 

"If  this  project  should  accord  with  your  views,  I 
should  wish  to  see  you  prominent  in  the  execution 
of  it.  It  must  be  known  to  be  your  work.  Whether 
a  formal  and  open  nomination  should  now  be  made, 
or  whether  you  should,  for  the  present,  content  your 
self  with  barely  denouncing,  by  a  joint  resolution  of 
both  houses  of  your  legislature,  congressional  cau 
cuses  and  nominations,  you  only  can  judge.  One 
consideration  inclines  me  to  hesitate  about  the  policy 
of  a  present  nomination.  It  is  this  —  that  Jackson 
ought  first  to  be  admonished  to  be  passive;  for,  the 
moment  he  shall  be  announced  as  a  candidate,  he  will 
be  assailed  by  the  Virginia  junto  with  menaces  and 
with  insidious  promises  of  boons  and  favors.  There 
is  danger  that  Jackson  might  be  wrought  upon  by 
such  practices.  If  an  open  nomination  be  made,  an 
express  should  be  instantly  sent  to  him. 

"This  suggestion  has  not  arisen  from  any  exclu- 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  355 

sive  attachment  to  Jackson.  The  object  is  to  break 
down  this  vile  combination  which  rules  and  degrades 
the  United  States.  If  you  should  think  that  any 
other  man  could  be  held  up  with  better  prospect  of 
success,  name  that  man.  I  know  of  no  such.  But 
the  business  must  be  accomplished,  and  on  this 
occasion,  and  by  you.  So  long  as  the  present  system 
prevails,  you  will  be  struggling  against  wind  and 
tide  to  preserve  a  precarious  influence.  You  will 
never  be  forgiven  for  the  crime  of  having  talents  and 
independence." 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  Aaron  Burr  left  no  works 

V^^  ^^•••ii 

of  value  behind  him,  and  this  is  largely  true.  All 
his  most  important  papers,  and  they  were  numerous 
and  of  much  value,  shared  the  sad  fate  of  his  daugh 
ter,  who  was  lost  at  sea.  Before  Burr  sailed  for 
Europe  in  June,  1808,  he  placed  all  his  valuable 
papers  in  possession  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Alston, 
of  South  Carolina.  After  his  return  his  daughter 
started  in  a  sailing  vessel  to  visit  her  father,  in  New 
York,  taking  his  papers,  all  he  had  prepared  during 
his  public  life,  including  an  extensive  correspondence, 
with  her.  After  leaving  port  the  vessel  was  never 
heard  of,  its  fate  was  never  known.  Burr's  papers 
met  the  same  mysterious  destiny  which  attended  his 
daughter. 

There  were,  however,  reports  of  a  great  number 
of  letters  left  by  him  which  were  described  as  unfit 
for  publication,  and  which  were  burned  by  his  execu- 


356  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

tors  after  his  death.  All  these,  it  was  said,  accumu 
lated  after  his  return  from  Europe,  and  in  his  old 
age.  It  is  not  likely  there  was  any  truth  in  this 
report  as  to  the  character  of  the  letters.  One  of  his 
friends  was  Mrs.  Webb,  a  lady  of  high  respectability, 
who  cared  for  him  in  his  last  years.  She  positively 
denies  the  truth  of  the  report  in  respect  to  the  nature 
of  the  letters  thus  left  by  him.  Mrs.  Webb  published 
a  denial  of  the  story  put  in  circulation.  She  said: 

"Some  two  years  previous  to  the  death  of  Colonel 
Burr,  who  was  then  residing  at  the  corner  of  Gold 
and  Fulton  streets,  sick  and  bedridden,  I  went, 
accompanied  by  his  relative  and  staunch  friend,  the 
late  Mr.  Ogden  E.  Edwards,  to  see  him,  and  found 
him  helpless  and  needing  greatly  the  attention  that 
women  only  can  bestow.  He  had  a  female  servant, 
who  attended  to  him,  as  all  hirelings  do,  with  apathy. 
Mr.  Edwards,  for  some  time  previous,  had  attended 
to  the  Colonel's  financial  concerns,  received  his 
pensions,  supplied  his  wants,  &c.,  with  a  zeal  and 
fidelity  that  commanded  the  Colonel's  gratitude,  and 
the  good  feeling  of  the  few  friends  that  time  had  left 
the  persecuted  old  man.  There  lay  in  helpless  lonelr- 
ness,  the  man  whom  I  had  been  taught  from  childhood 
to  regard  as  a  great  but  a  doomed  man.  My  impres 
sions  had  been  received  from  my  father,  who  knew 
him  well,  and  loved  as  well  as  he  knew  him,  and  who 
could  not  have  loved  a  bad  man.  For  many  years 
Colonel  Burr  had  been  the  friend  of  myself  and 


BURR'S  LATER   LIFE.  357 

family.  Providence  had  placed  me  in  a  situation 
to  afford  him  those  comforts  which  his  condition 
required.  I  prepared  rooms  for  him  in  my  house, 
and  he  accepted  my  invitation  to  come,  as  my  guest, 
and  remain  as  long  as  he  pleased.  He  came,  and 
with  him  came  five  or  six  large  packing  cases,  con 
taining  his  law  papers,  letters,  &c.  I  was  then  first 
informed  that  Mr.  Davis  was  about  writing  the 
Colonel's  life. 

"  He  desired  me  to  let  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Town- 
send,  who  were  friends  of  long  standing,  have  access 
to  the  papers  when  they  wished.  They  generally 
came  and  went  together,  and  took  with  them  such  of 
the  papers  as  were  required  for  the  biography,  under 
the  inspection  always  of  Mr.  Edwards  and  myself, 
by  the  request  of  Colonel  Burr.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  house  was  to  be  demolished  to  give  place  to 
the  present  structure,  the  Hon.  Ogden  Edwards  and 
myself  had  a  conversation  with  the  Colonel  in  regard 
to  his  papers,  when  it  was  determined  that  the  large 
bulk  of  them  should  be  consigned  to  the  care  and 
custody  of  Mr.  Ogden  Edwards,  the  ever  faithful  and 
untiring  friend  of  the  Colonel,  leaving  the  other 
portion  in  my  possession,  where  some  of  them  now 
remain,  the  rest  having  been  delivered  by  me  to  Mr. 
Davis,  and  taken  away  by  him  on  a  cart  in  sacks, 
from  my  residence  in  Brooklyn. 

"  Thus,  then,  were  the  papers  in  my  possession 
for  upwards  of  two  years,  and  often,  at  the  colonel's 


358  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

request,  looked  over  by  Mr.  Edwards  and  myself. 
Let  me  here  say  that  I  never  saw  a  letter  or  document 
among  the  papers  of  Mr.  Burr  that  would  bring  a  blush 
to  the  cheek  or  a  tear  to  the  eye  of  any  one.  If  there 
were  letters  of  such  a  kind,  they  must  have  escaped 
the  rigid  scrutiny  of  two  sincere  friends  of  the  colo 
nel,  to  whom  his  reputation  was,  and  to  one  of  whom 
it  is  still,  dear  —  the  other  having  gone  to  join  him 
in  that  far-off,  better  land,  where  envy  and  malice 
are  unknown. 

"All  who  knew  Colonel  Burr  knew  him  to  be  a 
silent,  secretive  man.  Is  it  likely,  then,  that  one 
who  had  suffered  persecution  deeply  as  he  had  done, 
would,  even  if  "he  had  the  power,  expose  others  to 
the  tortures  he  had  suffered.  As  early  as  the  year 
1829  the  husband  of  the  writer  of  this  made  prepara 
tion,  by  the  examination  of  documents  and  frequent 
consultations  with  Colonel  Burr,  for  writing  his  bio 
graphy.  This  was  long  before  Mr.  Davis  was  thought 
of  for  performing  such  service.  If  circumstances  had 
not  prevented  the  fulfillment  of  that  intention,  Colo 
nel  Burr  would  have  had  at  least  justice  done  to 
him." 

The  circumstances  which  brought  this  good  wo 
man  to  Burr's  assistance,  when  stricken  both  with 
years  and  illness,  are  singular  and  romantic.  Parton 
relates  them  at  length  :  "  During  the  expedition  to 
Canada,  while  the  American  forces  lay  near  the 
heights  of  Quebec,  Burr,  whose  stock  of  provisions 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  359 

was  reduced  to  a  biscuit  and  an  onion,  went  to  a 
small  brook  to  drink.  Having  no  cup,  he  was  pro 
ceeding  to  use  thq  top  of  his  cap  as  a  drinking  vessel, 
when  a  British  officer  who  had  come  to  the  other 
side  of  the  brook  for  the  same  purpose  saluted  him 
politely  and  offered  him  the  use  of  his  hunting- 
cup.  Burr  accepted  the  offer,  and  the  two  enemies 
entered  into  conversation.  The  officer,  pleased  with 

the  frank  and  gallant  bearing  of  the  youth for  a 

youth  be  seemed  —  concluded  the  interview  by  be 
stowing  upon  him  the  truly  magnificent  gift  of  part 
of  a  horse's  tongue.  They  inquired  each  other's 
name.  'When  next  we  meet,'  said  the  Briton,  'it 
will  be  as  enemies,  but  if  we  should  ever  come  to 
gether  after  war  is  over,  let  us  know  each  other 
better.'  Stepping  upon  some  stones  in  the  middle 
of  the  brook,  they  shook  hands  and  parted.  In  the 
subsequent  operations  of  the  war  each  saw  the  other 
occasionally,  but  before  the  peace  the  British  officer 
went  home  badly  wounded. 

"  Thirty-six  years  after,  when  Colonel  Burr  was 
an  exile  in  Scotland,  he  met  that  officer  again  ;  an 
old  man  then  residing  upon  his  estate.  Each  had  a 
vivid  recollection  of  the  scene  at  the  brook  in  the 
old  wars,  and  a  warm  friendship  sprang  up  between 
them.  Colonel  Burr  visited  the  home  of  the  aged 
officer  and  received  from  him  assistance  of  the  most 
essential  kind.  Twenty-four  years  later,  the  daugh 
ter  of  that  Scottish  officer,  ruined  in  fortune  by  a 


360  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

husband's  extravagance,  was  at  the  head  of  a  large 
boarding-house  in  New  York,  near  the  Bowling 
Green.  Both  herself  and  husband  had  been  friends 
of  Colonel  Burr  ever  since  their  arrival  in  New  York, 
and,  after  her  husband's  death,  Burr  was  her  law 
yer.  This  lady  was,  and  is,  one  of  the  kindest  and 
sprightliest  of  her  sex;  a  woman  of  high  breeding, 
with  too  little  of  the  provincial  in  her  character  to 
have  more  than  a  very  slight  respect  for  that  terror 
of  provincial  souls,  Mrs.  Grundy." 

Burr  remained  with  Mrs.  Webb  until  the  summer 
of  1836,  a  helpless  paralytic,  when  he  was  removed 
to  Port  .Richmond,  on  Staten  island,  where  apart 
ments  were  secured  for  him  in  a  small  hotel.  He 
was  carried  to  the  steamboat  on  a  litter,  accompanied 
by  a  number  of  friends.  Mrs.  Webb  was  one,  and 
did  not  leave  him  until  everything  necessary  for  his 
comfort  had  been  provided ;  then  he  was  left  in 
charge  of  a  nurse  and  a  man  servant.  But  she  and 
other  friends  visited  him  daily.  As  she  bade  him 
good-bye  for  the  night,  he  took  her  hand  and  tenderly 
said :  "  May  God  for  ever,  and  for  ever,  and  for  ever 
bless  you,  my  last,  best  friend.  When  the  hour  comes, 
I  will  look  out,  in  the  better  country,  for  one  bright 
spot  for  you  —  be  sure."  Here  he  was  tenderly  cared 
for  and  daily  visited  by  many  loving  friends  until 
the  end  came. 

During  his  last  illness,  for  some  weeks  before  his 
death,  he  was  visited  daily  by  Rev.  Dr.  P.  J.  Vanpelt, 


BURR'S  LATER   LIFE.  361 

a  minister  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  Burr 
was  pleased  and  thankful  for  these  visits.  Dr.  Van- 
pelt  afterward  said:  "I  was  uniformly  received  by 
him  with  his  accustomed  politeness  and  urbanity 
of  manner.  The  time  spent  with  him  at  each  inter 
view —  which  was  an  hour,  more  or  less — was  chiefly 
employed  in  religious  conversations,  adapted  to  his 
declining  health,  his  feeble  state  of  body,  and  his 
advanced  age,  concluding  with  prayer  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  exercise  of  his  great  mercy,  the  influence 
of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  divine  blessing.  In  all  wrhich 
he  appeared  to  take  an  interest  and  be  pleased,  and 
particularly  would  thank  me  for  the  prayers  I  offerd 
up  in  his  behalf,  for  my  kind  offices  and  the  interest 
I  took  in  his  spiritual  welfare,  saying  it  gave  him 
great  pleasure  to  see  me  and  hear  my  voice.  And 
when  I  reminded  him  of  the  advantages  he  had 
enjoyed,  of  his  honored  and  pious  ancestry,  viz:  his 
father  a  minister  of  the  gospel  and  president  of  the 
college  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  his  mother  a 
descendant  of  the  learned  and  celebrated  divine, 
Jonathan  Edwards;  and  that  doubtless  many  prayers 
had  gone  up  to  heaven  from  the  hearts  of  his  parents 
for  his  well  being  and  happiness,  it  seemed  to  affect 
him.  And  when  I  asked  as  to  his  views  of  the  holy 
scriptures,  he  responded,  'They  are  the  most  perfect 
system  of  truth  the  world  has  ever  seen.'  So  that, 
judging  from  his  own  declaration,  and  behavior  to 


3b2  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

me,  as  his  spiritual  adviser,  he  was  not  an  atheist 
nor  a  deist." 

Parton,  who  gave  particular  attention  to  the 
charge's  of  immoral  conduct  upon  the  part  of  Burr, 
says  of  them  :  Aaron  Burr  wasn  man  of  gallantry. 
'I,  was  not  a  debauchee;  not  :i  corrupter  of  virgin 
innocence;  not  a  despoiler  of  honest  households;  not 
a  betrayer  of  tender  confidences.  He  was  a  man  of 
gallantry.  It  is  beyond  question  that,  in  the  course 
of  his  long  life,  he  had  many  intrigues  with  women, 
some  of  which  (not  many,  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe)  were  carried  to  the  point  of  criminality. 
The  grosser  forms  of  licentiousness  he  utterly  ab 
horred;  such  as  the  seduction  of  innocence,  the 
keeping  of  mistresses,  the  wallowing  in  the  worse 
than  beastliness  of  prostitution.  Not  every  woman 
could  attract  him.  He  was  the  most  delicate  and 
fastidious  of  men.  A  woman  of  wit,  vivacity  and 
grace,  whether  beautiful  or  not,  whether  the  inhabi 
tant  of  a  mansion  or  a  cottage,  was  the  creature  who 
alone,  and  who  always,  could  captivate  him.  He 
was,  as  it  were,  a  man  of  gallantry  by  nature. 
Everything  appertaining  to  the  sex  was  peculiarly 
interesting  to  him.  He  doated  on  a  neatly  turned 
billet-doux.  He  thought  highly  of  the  minds  of 
women:  he  prized  their  writings.  1'.  rational  part 
of  the  opinions  now  advocated  by  the  Woman's  K'ghts 
Conventions  were  his  opinions  fifty  years  before  those 
conventions  began  their  needed  and  useful  work. 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  .  363 

l-The  beautiful  picture  of  Mary  Wolstoncroft  (by 
Opie,  the  author  of  a  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of 
Women,)  he  preserved  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
his  life,  and  gave  it  away  on  his  death-bed  to  his  last 
and  best  friend,  in  whose  possession  it  still  remains. 
It  was  impossible  that  he  shoukLhave  been  addicted 
to  gross  sensual  indnlpfftnfftsl  A-xmAi^  fyhn  is  gross 
in  one  appetite  is  generally  gross  in  all.  A  man  who, 
like  Burr^Js  temperate  in  eating  and  drinking  to  the 
degree  o£abstemiousness,  may  not  be  strictly  chaste, 
but  he  cannot  be  a  debauchee.  A  man  who  retains 
to  the  age  of  seventy-nine  the  vigor  of  manhood  and 
the  liveliness  of  a  boy,  cannot  at  any  period  of  his 
life  have  egregiously  violated  the  laws  of  his  being." 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  Burr,  in  his  later  life,  was 
not  guiltless  in  this  respect,  neither  were  his  great 
rivals,  Jefferson  and  Hamilton.  Indeed  the  latter, 
being  suspected  of  peculation  in  office,  while  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury,  wrote  and  published  a  pamphlet 
to  show  that  the  suspicious  circumstances  all  grew 
out  of  an  amour  he  had  with  the  notorious  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  thus  deciding  to  protect  his  integrity  as  an 
officer  by  exposing  his  frailty  as  a  man.  Mr.  Curtis, 
in  his  recent  publication,  uThe  True  Thomas  Jeffer 
son,"  referring  to  the  charges  of  this  nature  against 
J-efferson,  very  charitably  disposes  of  them.  He  says: 
"He  was  probably  no  more  immoral  than  Franklin, 
Washington,  Hamilton,  and  other  men  of  his  time. 
He  was  neither  a,  St.  Anthony  nor  a  Don  Juan. 


364  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

Judged  by  the  standard  of  his  generation,  his  vices 
were  those  of  a  gentleman,  and  such  as  did  not 
deprive  him  of  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
community."  It  is  not  well  that  these  things  should 
be  remembered  or  discussed,  and  it  is  not  improper 
that  Burr,  with  less  guilt,  be  given  the  same  silence 
that  is  given  the  others. 

Burr  was  never  regarded  as  a  religious  man,  yet 
he  always  had  profound  respect  for  the  Christian 
religion.  It  had  always  been  his  custom,  when  con 
sulted  by  young  men  as  to  a  course  of  study,  to  name 
the  Bible  as  the  most  important  of  all  books,  and  it 
always  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list  he  recommended 
for  study.  He  never  complained  of  his  sufferings 
either  of  mind  or  body,  but  during  the  last  few 
months  of  life  he  became  restive  and  at  times  ex 
pressed  a  wish  that  the  end  might  come.  "  All  the 
ties  of  consanguinity  which  operate  in  uniting  him 
to  the  world  were  severed  asunder.  To  him  there 
remained  no  brother,  no  sister,  no  child,  no  lineal 
descendant.  He  had  numbered  four  score  years,  and 
was  incapable,  from  disease,  of  moving  abroad  or 
even  dressing  himself."  It  was  little  wonder,  then, 
he  wished  his  hour  to  come.  It  came  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1836,  in  his  eighty-first  year.  His  burial 
was  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  where  he  was  laid  at 
the  feet  of  his  father  and  mother  in  the  family  burial 
ground. 

The  New   York  Courier  and  Enquirer  of  Septem- 


BURR'S  LATER  LIFE.  365 

ber  the  19th  gives  the  following  account  of  his  fu 
neral  :  "  On  Friday  morning,  the  16th  of  September, 
the  body  of  the  late  Colonel  Burr  was  put  on  board 
a  steamboat  at  Staten  Island  and  conveyed,  with  a 
number  of  his  friends  and  relatives,  from  New  York 
to  Amboy.  Here  it,  with  the  followers,  was  received 
by  the  railroad  cars  and  taken  to  Hightstown,  nine 
miles  from  Princeton.  A  hearse  and  carriages  hav 
ing  been  previously  prepared,  the  remains,  with  the 
friends  of  the  departed,  proceeded  to  Princeton  Col 
lege,  where  the  body  was  deposited  until  the  hour  of 
interment  should  arrive  —  half-past  three  o'clock. 

"  At  the  appointed  hour,  the  professors,  collegians 
and  citizens  having  assembled,  the  ceremony  com 
menced  by  a  prayer  to  the  throne  of  grace.  It  was 
succeeded  by  a  most  eloquent,  appropriate  and  ju 
dicious  sermon,  delivered  by  the  president  of  the  col 
lege  ;  after  which  the  procession  was  formed  on  the 
college  green  and  proceeded  to  the  burying-ground, 
under  an  escort  of  the  military,  accompanied  by 
martial  music.  He  was  interred  with  the  honors  of 
war.  The  firing  over  the  grave  was  performed  by 
a  well-disciplined  infantry  corps,  designated  as  the 
'  Mercer  Guards.'  The  professors  and  students  of  the 
college,  and  some  of  the  clergy  and  citizens,  united 
with  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  deceased  in  the 
procession. 

"  The  interment  was  in  the  college  burying-place, 
near  the  tombs  of  his  ancestors,  in  his  native  state, 


366  BURR'S  LATER  LIFE. 

under  the  superintendence  of  the  fathers  of  that  seat 
of  learning  where  the  budding  of  his  mighty  mind 
first  displayed  itself,  where  it  was  cultivated  and 
matured,  and  where  the  foundation  was  laid  for 
those  intellectual  endowments  which  he  afterwards 
exhibited  on  the  great  theatre  of  life.  He  has  shed  a 
halo  of  literary  glory  around  Nassau  Hall.  Through 
a  long  pilgrimage  he  loved  her  as  the  disciplinarian  of 
his  youthful  mind.  He  vaunted  he  was  one  of  her 
earliest  and  most  attached  sons.  He  joyed  in  her 
success  and  sorrowed  in  her  misfortunes.  In  this 
her  last  act  of  respect  to  his  memory  she  has  repaid 
those  kind  feelings  in  which  he  indulged  during  a 
long  life ;  and  heartless  must  be  the  friend  of  the 
deceased  who  remembers  not  with  gratitude  this 
testimony  of  regard  for  the  giant  mind  of  him  who 
must  fill  a  large  space  in  the  history  of  his  country. 
PEACE  BE  TO  HIS  MANES." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


A  SUMMARY. 


The  Conspiracy  Against  Burr— Burr's  Political  Life—  His  Popularity  — 
Refuses  to  Compete  with  Jefferson  — His  Letter  to  General  Smith 

—  Hamilton  Proposes  to  Corrupt  Jefferson  —  His  Opposition  to  Burr 

—  The  Agreement  Between  Bayard  and  Jefferson  —  Burr's  Integrity — 
Jefferson's  Revenge  —  Wilkinson's  Treachery  —  Burr's  Fatal  Pride 

—  His  Friends. 


"Nothing  is  so  desirable  to  me  as  that  after  man 
kind  shall  have  been  abused  by  such  gross  falsehoods  > 
as  to  events  while  passing,  their  minds  should  at 
length  be  set  to  rights  by  genuine  truth."  These 
are  the  words  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  the  sentiment 
they  express  is  that  which  moved  us  to  attempt  to 
set  to  rights  the  gross  falsehoods  in  regard  to  certain 
past  events,  by  giving  "the  genuine  truth;  "  and  the 
vindication  of  Aaron  Burr  from  some  gross  falsehoods 
with  which  the  public  mind  has  long  been  abused  is 
what  we  have  proposed. 

In  the  execution  of  this  work  we  have  not  inten 
tionally  misrepresented  any  one ;  we  have  tried  to  give 
only  the  truth,  supported,  as  we  believe,  by  the  facts 
presented.  It  must  not  be  understood  that  we  have 
attempted  to  portray  the  whole  character  of  either 

(387) 


368  A   SUMMARY. 

of  the  distinguished  personages  who  are  here  held 
accountable  for  the  ruin  and  disgrace  of  Aaron  Burr. 
We  have  been  compelled  to  deal  with  them,  not  in 
their  general  character,  but  in  the  worst  traits  of 
character  possessed  by  each.  We  freely  confess  that 
to  judge  either  of  them  solely  by  his  treatment  of 
Burr  would  be  an  injustice  to  him.  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton  both  possessed  nobler  natures  and  worthier 
impulses  than  are  shown  in  the  scenes  in  which  we 
are  compelled  to  present  them.  But  this  does  not 
extenuate  the  great  wrong  each  did  in  his  vicious 
persecution  of  Burr. 

We  know  that  in  attempting  a  vindication  of  Burr 
we  are  facing  a  prejudice  nearly  universal,  and  which 
has  been  strengthened  with  the  growth  of  almost  a 
century.  But  if  it  can  be  shown  that  this  prejudice 
is  in  direct  contrast  with  "genuine  truth,'1  we  believe 
there  is  a  love  of  fair  dealing  in  the  American  mind 
that  will  discard  the  prejudice  and  embrace  the  truth. 
If  the  facts  we  have  presented  do  not  have  this  effect 
we  shall  still  believe  it  to  be  the  fault  of  the  advocate 
and  not  of  the  facts.  What  we  hope,  and  the  most 
we  hope,  as  the  result  of  this  work  is  that  honest 
minds  will  investigate  the  facts,  will  search  for  the 
truth,  and  fairly  judge  Burr  by  these,  and  not  con 
tinue  to  condemn  him  on  merely  unreliable  tradition. 

We  do  not  propose  an  estimate  of  Burr's  true 
character;  the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  that; 
but  we  think  it  not  improper  that  we  close  this 


A  SUMMARY.  369 

volume  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  leading  events 
in  hinjiiafnryj  with  f.hft  motives  that  inspired  them, 
and ^e^rc^Tutt&sttiey  produced.  It  is  a  fact  that  the 
real  Aaron  Burr  is  almost  unknown  to  the  present 
generation  of  Americans.  Historians  have  ignored 
him,  or  presented  his  name  coupled  with  degrading 
epithets.  The  truth,  though  not  inaccessible,  has 
never  been  given.  Wild,  unfounded,  and  unreason 
able  tradition  has  been  accepted  instead.  Fiction 
about  Burr,  clothed  in  beautiful  language,  was  taught 
in  our  schools  for  two  generations  as  "  genuine  truth." 
Wirt's  brilliant  imaginations  were  given  to  the  youth 
of  the  country  as  reliable  history  until  the  minds  of 
the  people  have  become  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
belief  that  Burr  was  all  that  is  execrable.  His  ene 
mies  were  triumphant,  they  were  in  power,  no  one 
dare  dispute  their  authority  or  appear  in  defense  of 
Burr.  But,  though  tardy,  truth  is  beginning  to 
assert  itself.  Historians  and  others,  in  late  years, 
are  occasionally  referring  to  Burr  in  respectful  terms, 
and  are  beginning  to  "set  to  rights'"  the  falsehoods 
with  which  men's  minds  have  been  abused  these 
man}T  years. 

Burr's  political  life  was  comparatively  a  brief  one, 
but  it  was  brilliant  and  successful  beyond  that  of 
most  of  his  contemporaries.  He  served  a  few  terms 
in  the  state  legislature;  he  was  attorney-general  of 
New  York  for  four  years  and  discharged  the  duties 
of  that  office  so  acceptably  that  at  the  end  of  the 


370  A    SUMMARY. 

term  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  state,  an  appointment  he  declined.  So 
highly  esteemed  was  he  by  the  people  of  his  state 
that,  without  solicitation  on  his  part,  he  was  elected 
to  the  United  States  senate,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
five  years.  At  the  presidential  election  in  1800  he 
received  the  same  number  of  electoral  votes  for  presi 
dent  that  were  given  Jefferson.  Though  having 
the  same  legal  right  to  be  declared  president  that 
Jefferson  had,  he  refused  to  compete  with  him  for 
the  position,  because,  as  he  declared,  the  people  had 
intended  the  first  place  for  Jefferson.  And  when  the 
Federalists  arranged  a  scheme  to  make  him  presi 
dent  he  refused  to  countenance  it.  He  accepted  the 
vice-presidency  and  served  in  that  position  for  four 
years,  with  distinguished  ability. 

His  renunciation  of  the  presidency,  when  it  was 
within  his  grasp,  is  one  of  thejnogtjinfielfish  acts  of  an 
ambitious  statesman  recorded  m  history.  He  did  it 
promptly  and  without  hesitation.  Immediately  upon 
learning  that  there  was  a  possibility  of  a  tie  between 
Jefferson  and  himself  in  the  electoral  vote,  and  that 
the  Federalists  would  probably  give  him  their  sup 
port  for  president,  he  wrote  to  General  Samuel  Smith. 
under  date  of  December  16,  1800,  as  follows : 

"It  is  highly  improbable  that  I  shall  have  an 
equal  number  of  votes  with  Mr.  Jefferson ;  but  if 
such  should  be  the  result,  every  man  who  knows  me 
ought  to  know  that  I  would  utterly  disclaim  all 


A  SUMMARY.  371 

competition.  Be  assured  that  the  Federal  party  can 
entertain  no  wish  for  such  an  exchange.  As  to  my 
friends,  they  would  dishonor  my  views  and  insult 
my  feelings  by  a  suspicion  that  I  would  submit  to  be 
instrumental  in  counteracting  the  wishes  and  ex-~ 
pectations  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  And 
I  now  constitute  you  my  proxy  to  declare  these  sen 
timents  if  the  occasion  should  require." 

He  puts  his  refusal  to  compete  with  Jefferson  on 
the  proper  ground;  he  would  not  counteract  the 
wishes  and  expectations  of  the  people.  His  action 
was  prompt,  manly  and  unselfish.  And  that  his  de 
termination  should  be  made  known  to  the  members 
of  congress,  he  authorizes  General  Smith  to  act  as 
his  proxy  in  proclaiming  it,  if  the  occasion  should 
require.  General  Smith  was  one  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
most  devoted  personal  as  well  as  political  friends, 
and  would  undoubtedly  use  the  authority  given  him 
to  declare  Burr  was  not  a  candidate  against  Jeffer 
son.  This  action  of  Burr  displays  the  highest  pos 
sible  integrity,  and  the  promptness  "with  which  he 
acted  shows  his  sincerity.  It  released  his  personal 
and  party  friends  from  every  obligation  to  vote 
for  him,  and  every  one  of  them,  without  exception, 
voted  for  Jefferson  in  consequence.  It  would  be  an 
unusually  honest  and  unselfish  politician,  at  this 
day,  who,  under  similar  circumstances,  would  act  as 
Burr  did. 

The  day  after  Burr  wrote  to  General  Smith  dis- 


372  A  SUMMARY. 

claiming  all  competition  with  Jefferson,  Hamilton 
wrote  to  Wolcott,  outlining  a  corrupt  proposition  to 
be  made  to  Jefferson,  on  his  acceptance  of  which  the 
Federalists  would  vote  for  him  and  against  Burr. 
This  proposition  wan  not  satisfactory  to  the  Fed 
eralists  in  congress  and  was  rejected  by  them.  They 
were  honest  men  and  would  not  consent  to  sell  their 
votes  to  any  man  or  for  any  price.  But  Hamilton 
did  not  relax  his  efforts  to  bring  the  Federal  vote  to 
Jefferson.  He  knew  Burr  was  honest  in  the  position 
he  had  taken  and  that  he  would  not  compete  with 
Jefferson,  but  he  feared  that  fact  would  make  the 
Federalists  all  the  more  ready  to  vote  for  Burr,  an 
honest  man,  against  Jefferson,  who,  they  believed, 
was  not  an  honest  politician. 

The  situation  was  a  difficult  one;  neither  party 
of  itself  could  elect  a  president.  The  Federalists 
had  a  small  majority  of  the  members  of  the  house, 
but  they  did  not  control  a  majority  of  states,  and 
the  vote  was  to  be  taken  by  states,  each  having  one 
vote.  There  were  sixteen  states,  a  majority  of  nine 
being  required  to  elect.  The  .Republicans  had  con 
trol  of  eight  states,  the  Federalists  of  six,  and  two 
states  were  equally  divided,  Jefferson  with  eight 
states  lacked  one  vote  of  an  election  ;  Burr  with  six 
states  (Federalists)  lacked  three.  Either  one  of  the 
two  equally  divided  states  could  have  elected  Jeffer 
son;  both  could  not  have  elected  Burr.  .Thirty-five 
ballotings  were  had  without  any  change.  Of  the 


A   SUMMARY.  373 

fifty-six  Federal  members  only  four  were  willing  to 
make  terms  with  either  of  the  candidates,  but  the 
conditions  were  such  that  any  one  of  these  four  could 
elect  Jefferson.  These  were:  James  A.  Bayard  of 
Delaware,  Lewis  Morris  of  Vermont  and  George  Baer 
and  William  Craik  of  Maryland. 

Bayard,  who  was  the  sole  member  from  Dela 
ware,  had  on  every  balloting  voted  for  Burr;  a 
change  of  his  vote  to  Jefferson  would  have  elected 
him  ;  Morris,  one  of  two  members  from  Vermont, 
neutralized  the  vote  of  his  state;  had  he  voted  for 
Jefferson,  it  would  have  given  him  the  state  and 
elected  him.  The  delegation  from  Maryland  num 
bered  eight;  four  were  for  Jefferson  and  four  for 
Burr.  If  any  one  of  the  four  Federalists  had  voted 
for  Jefferson  it  would  have  elected  him.  Two  of 
the  four  Federal  members  would  listen  to  no  terms 
with  Jefferson,  but  Baer  and  Craik  were  willing, 
on  proper  assurances  from  Jefferson,  to  withdraw 
their  opposition  to  him.  And  they  consented  to  unite 
with  Bayard  and  Morris,  in  doing  so  if  Jefferson 
would  agree  to  the  terms  presented  to  him. 

They  preferred  Burr,  however,  and  first  tried  to 
secure  his  election.  A  scheme  was  arranged,  so 
Bayard  said,  by  which  Burr  could  certainly  have 
been  president.  It  was  to  deceive  one  man  and  buy 
two  others,  but  this  could  not  be  done  without  Burr's 
approval,  and  that  they  failed  to  gain.  Thus  repulsed 
by  Burr,  they  turned  their  attention  to  Jefferson. 


374  A  SUMMARY. 

Hamilton's  proposition  was  only  slightly  changed; 
not  only  was  the  financial  system  to  be  preserved, 
the  navy  to  be  maintained,  and  the  great  body  of  the 
Federalists  retained  in  office,  but  Bayard  specially 
named  two  of  his  friends,  George  Latimer,  collector 
of  the  port  at  Philadelphia,  and  Allen  McLane,  the 
collector  at  Wilmington,  who  were  to  be  continued 
in  office.  This  proposition  was  carried  to  Jefferson 
by  General  Smith,  promptly  accepted  by  him,  and 
his  acceptance  reported  to  Bayard.  Jefferson  was 
then  elected  on  the  next  balloting. 

Not  one  of  these  four  Federalists  voted  for  Jeffer 
son  :  their  scheme  did  not  require  it.  They  simply 
did  not  vote  at  all,  or  voted  in  blank.  It  is  a  remark 
able  fact  that  with  the  hard  work  done  by  Hamilton 
he  did  not  succeed  in  securing  a  single  Federalist 
vote  for  Jefferson  —  not  one.  This  fact  was  a  crush 
ing  disappointment  to  Hamilton;  it  confirmed  the 
then  general  belief  that  his  bitter  attack  on  John 
Adams  had  lost  him  the  confidence  of  the  party  and 
all  control  of  its  action.  The  Federalists  in  congress 
not  only  did  not  accept  his  advice,  but  they  told  him 
plainly  they  did  not  believe  the  character  he  gave  to 
Burr  was  the  true  one.  Hamilton  relied  upon  abuse 
of  Burr  to  carry  his  party  against  him.  He  never 
once  placed  his  argument  upon  the  true  ground  — 
the  ground  upon  which  Burr  placed  it  —  that  the 
people  had  intended  that  Jefferson  should  be  presi 
dent.  He  relied  solely  upon  his  abuse  of  Burr,  whom 


A  SUMMARY.  375 

he  described  as  a  man  "of  unhallowed  ambition," 
utterly  "lacking  in  integrity,"  "a  Ctusar,  ready  to 
mount  to  the  highest  position  by  any  means,  lawful 
or  unlawful."  At  the  very  moment  that  Hamilton 
was  heaping  these  charges  upon  Burr,  and  urging 
his  party  to  condemn  him  by  their  votes.  Burr  was 
quietly  contradicting  every  one  of  them  by  his  action. 
He  was  refusing  the  presidency  of  the  United  States 
because  it  would  not  be  honest  to  accept  it  on  the 
terms  proposed,  and  because  the  people  designed  it 
for  another  person.  These  facts,  known  to  the  Fed 
eralists  in  congress,  caused  them  to  give  no  heed  to 
Hamilton's  importunities,  and  no  credit  to  his  cen 
sures  of  Burr.  The  Federalists  in  their  caucus  were 
unanimously  in  favor  of  supporting  Burr  as  against 
Jefferson,  and,  tired  of  Hamilton's  pleadings,  Sedg- 
wick,  the  speaker  of  the  house,  wrote  to  him  to  tell 
him  why  they  were  determined  to  vote  for  Burr.  He 
said  it  was  because  Burr  "held  no  pernicious  theories 
and  was  a  mere  matter  of  fact  man,''  thus  directly  con 
tradicting  Hamilton's  assertions  that  Burr's  theories 
were  all  pernicious,  and  proclaiming  their  belief  in 
Burr's  honesty  as  a  man,  in  despite  of  Hamilton's 
often  repeated  declarations  to  the  contrary.  Burr's 
sound  principles  and  integrity  were  attested  by  every 
Federal  representative  in  congress. 

This  was  an  indorsement  of  the  highest  character 
because  it  was  given  by  men  of  the  highest  character. 
The  Federal  members  of  that  congress  were  mostly 


376  A  SUMMARY. 

men  of  high  respectability,  of  stern  integrity,  and 
devoted  patriotism.  No  caucus  that  contained  such 
men  as  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Harrison  G.  Otis,  Chaun- 
cey  Goodrich,  John  Rutledge,  Thomas  Pinckney,  and 
Henry  Lee  could  have  gone  far  wrong  in  any  action 
which  these  men  indorsed.  They  were  all  political 
opponents  of  Burr,  but  they  knew  him  well;  it  was 
just  at  the  close  of  a  bitter  political  contest  in  which 
Burr  was  a  candidate  for  a  high  position,  and  in 
which  all  that  was  known  against  him  would  be  sure 
to  be  made  public.  And  these  men  did  know  all  that 
was  made  public  against  Burr,  as  well  as  much  that 
was  secretly  circulated  by  Hamilton,  and,  with  this 
knowledge,  they  unanimously  indorsed  Burr  as  "a 
mere  matter  of  fact  man,"  and  that  means  an  honest 
man;  and  besides,  they  declared  he  "held  no  perni 
cious  theories,"  or  dangerous  principles.  Such  an 
indorsement,  by  such  men,  and  under  such  circum 
stance,  is  a  hundred  times  more  worthy  of  belief 
than  the  charges  Hamilton  secretly  circulated  in  his 
confidential  correspondence,  and  which  afterwards 
became  public. 

We  have  shown  that  up  to  the  time  of  the  presi 
dential  election  by  congress  in  1801,  that  Jefferson 
not  only  professed  a  friendship  for  Btirr,  but  had  so 
high  an  opinion  of  his  ability,  his  integrity  and  his 
popularity  with  the  party  that  he  intended,  if  Burr 
had  lost  his  election  to  the  vice-presidency,  to  call 
him  into  the  cabinet,  as  one  of  his  official  advisers. 


A  SUMMARY. 

This  friendship  continued  until  after  each  had  as 
sumed  his  official  position  at  the  head  of  the  new 
government.  But  it  was  not  long  until  the  presi 
dent's  jealousy  was  alarmed  ;  Burr's  great  popularity 
with  the  people,  the  deference  paid  to  him  by  leaders 
of  the  party  and  the  constant  reference  to  him  as 
the  "heir  apparent"  aroused  his  fear  that  a  second 
term  in  office  might  be  denied  him.  As  this  danger 
seemed  to  increase  rather  than  diminish,  Jefferson 
deliberately  determined  to  drive  him  out  of  his  po 
litical  pathway,  and  to  do  this,  he  must  drive  him 
out  of  his  political  party.  For  Jefferson  to  deter 
mine,  in  a  case  where  his  official  life  was  at  stake, 
was  to  act,  and  that  with  great  promptness. 

Then  a  conspiracy  was  formed,  the  most  power 
ful  ever  known  to  destroy  a  single  man,  and  it  was 
formed  of  the  most  incongruous  elements  ever  com 
bined  for  any  purpose.  It  was  necessary  it  should 
be  kept  absolutely  secret ;  if  Burr  should  know  of  its 
existence  and  its  purpose,  he  could  and  would  have 
defied  it.  No  possible  friend  of  Burr  must,  there 
fore,  be  admitted  to  the  secret.  Only  his  enemies 
dare  be  trusted.  Go verupr.  Clinton,  of  New  York, 
whom  Burr  had  outstripped  in  official  honors,  had 
come  to  hate  Burr  for  that  reason.  But  he  hated 
Jefferson  with  equal  intensity.  This  did  not  daunt 
the  president.  He  tempted  the  governor  with  the 
vice-presidency  and  proposed  a  coalition  for  the  pur 
pose  of  driving  Burr  out  of  the  way  of  each.  Clin- 


378  A  SUMMARY. 

ton  accepted  the  bait  and  pledged  his  assistance. 
But  with  the  governor's  powerful  aid  Jefferson  was 
still  fearful  of  failure;  the  combination  must  be 
strengthened  or  the  scheme  might  miscarry,  and  that 
would  be  political  death  to  both  the  conspirators. 
There  was  one  man  whose  assistance  would  insure 
success  to  their  plans,  but  he  hated  both  Jefferson 
and  Clinton  with  a  fervor  amounting  to  mania,  and 
they  both  hated  him  with  equal  intensity.  He  could 
not  be  secured  by  the  offer  of  official  reward,  but 
Jefferson  knew  the  most  ardent  desire  of  his  heart 
was  the  political  degradation  of  Burr.  His  jealousy 
was  a  stronger  feeling  than  his  hatred.  The  over 
throw  of  Burr  was  promised  him,  and  Hamilton 
joined  the  conspiracy.  "Never  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,"  says  Henry  Adams,  "did  so  power 
ful  a  combination  of  rival  politicians  unite  to  break 
down  a  single  man  as  that  which  arrayed  itself 
against  Burr."  The  opportunity  for  action  came 
when  Burr  was  nominated  as  the  Republican  candi 
date  for  governor,  in  New  York.  The  conspiracy 
was  too  powerful;  Burr  was  defeated  and  his  po 
litical  career  was  ended. 

Jefferson  and  the  "Virginia  junto,"  of  which  he 
was  the  head,  had  now  a  clear  field;  no  rival  of  the 
president  remained  in  the  Republican  party.  Jeffer 
son  could  quietly  and  without  opposition  take  to 
himself  another  term  of  the  presidency,  and  Madi 
son  and  Monroe  would  in  succession  follow  him. 


A  SUMMARY.  379 

This  was  the  programme  prepared  by  the  junto,  and 
for  the  successful  carrying  out  of  which  Burr's  po 
litical  death  was  decreed.  It  was  neither  with  anger 
or  malice  that  Jefferson  prepared  his  conspiracy  to 
drive  Burr  from  his  party.  That  there  would  be 
difficulties  in  the  way  he  well  knew,  and  that  he 
carefully  prepared  to  meet  and  overcome  them  is 
shown  by  the  secrecy  with  which  he  worked  and  the 
powerful  assistants  he  called  to  his  aid.  He  was  not 
preparing  to  punish  Burr  for  any  wrong  doing; 
Burr's  work  thus  far  had  all  been  friendly  and  in 
Jefferson's  interest.  Indeed  he  owed  his  position  as 
president  almost  solely  to  Burr's] "extraordinary  ex 
ertions  and  successes  in  the  New  York  election  in 
1800,"  as  Jefferson  himself  declaredj  It  was  Burr's 
rivalry  he  feared;  and  he  was  but  planning  a  not 
uncommon  political  intrigue  to  remove  a  rival  from 
his  way,  who  might  be  dangerous  to  his  own  progress 
and  to  the  plans  for  the  Virginia  junto  for  securing 
complete  dominance  of  the  politics  of  the  country. 

Jefferson's  feelings  toward  Burr  met  with  a  re 
vulsion,  when,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1806,  he  read 
the  deposition  of  Bayard,  taken  at  Washington  two 
days  before,  in  which  were  detailed  the  terms  of  the 
agreement  made  between  Jefferson  and  Bayard, 
by  which  Jefferson's  election  to  the  presidency  was 
secured.  He  believed  Burr  had  instigated  the  ex 
posure,  and,  in  a  towering  passion,  he  turns  to  his 
diary  and  enters  a  denial  of  Bayard's  statement,  de- 


380  A   SUMMARY. 

claring  he  could  disprove  it  by  General  Smith.  But 
when  on  the  following  day  he  read  Smith's  deposi 
tion,  confirming  all  that  Bayard  testified  to,  he  was 
in  despair.  Denial  would  be  useless  for  the  witnesses 
were  unimpeachable.  Revenge  upon  Burr  was  all 
that  was  left  him,  and  this  he  determined  to  have  to 
the  utmost.  It  is  believed  he  knew  of  Burr's  Mexi 
can  enterprise  from  the  beginning.  It  is  certain  he 
knew  of  it  from  some  time  in  the  preceding  January, 
when  Colonel  Daviess  first  wrote  him  about  Burr's 
movements.  But  he  had  no  feeling  against  Burr  at 
that  time,  and  no  objection  to  Burr's  project.  He 
would  no  doubt  have  approved  it  if  Burr  had  been 
his  friend.  He  had  projected  something  of  the  same 
kind  himself,  when  he  sent  Senator  John  Smith,  a 
few  months  before,  to  sound  the  Spanish  authorities 
and  people  in  Mexico  and  Florida,  on  the  subject  of 
a  revolt  from  Spain. 

Jefferson  pondered  over  his  plans,  for  more  than 
four  months,  after  he  resolved  to  destroy  Burr,  be 
fore  he  decided  to  denounce  his  Mexican  enterprise 
as  treasonable.  He  knew  of  Burr's  movements  in 
January,  but  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  April 
his  ire  was  aroused  against  him,  and  it  was  not  until 
towards  the  end  of  September,  he  finally  concluded 
to  work  up  a  case  against  him.  He  sent  secret  emis 
saries  to  the  western  country  to  spy  out  what  was 
doing,  and  to  report  to  him  all  they  could  learn 
against  the  lawfulness  of  Burr's  movements.  He 


A  SUMMARY.  381 

had  known  from  the  beginning  that  whatever  it  was 
that  Burr  was  doing  was  in  conjunction  with  Wilkin 
son,  the  commander  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States;  this  Colonel  Daviess  had  assured  him.  As  in 
formation  came  in  slowly  from  other  quarters,  he 
opened  a  private  correspondence  with  Wilkinson. 
This  officer,  Jefferson  knew,  had  long  been  a  pen 
sioner  of  Spain,  hired  and  paid  to  betray  his  country; 
it  might  not  then  be  difficult  to  induce  him  to  betray 
Burr.  The  agreement,  whatever  it  was,  between  the 
president  and  the  general,  was  soon  arranged,  and 
Wilkinson  undertook  the  task  of  furnishing  the 
evidence  to  convict  Burr  of  treason. 

This  agreement  between  Jefferson  and  Wilkinson 
was  never  fully  known  ;  that  it  was  not  creditable  to 
Jefferson  can  readily  be  assumed  from  the  desperate 
means  to  which  he  resorted  to  conceal  it.  In  response 
to  the  subpoena  duces  tecum  requiring  him  to  produce, 
at  the  trial,  two  letters  written  by  Wilkinson  to  him, 
and  which  Burr  believed  would  disclose  the  terms  of 
their  agreement,  Jefferson  forwarded  the  letters  to, 
Mr.  Hay,  the  district  attorney,  with  the  instruction/ 
to  suppress  certain  portions  of  them.  This  instruc;- 
tion  Mr.  Hay  faithfully  obeyed,  and,  in  despite  of  all 
the  efforts  of  Burr's  counsel  and  the  orders  of  the 
court,  refused  to  submit  the  letters  entire,  but  insisted 
on  giving  them  only  in  part.  On  the  misdemeanor 
trial  the  court  ordered  the  production  of  these  letters 
in  full,  and  declared  it  would  continue  the  case  until 


382  A  SUMMARY. 

they  were  submitted.  Mr.  Hay  positively  refused  to 
permit  the  letters  to  be  read  in  full,  declaring  he 
would  rather  go  to  prison  than  obey  the  order  of  the 
court.  And,  though  avowedly  on  other  ground,  this 
was  undoubtedly  the  real  reason  why  the  prosecution 
of  the  misdemeanor  case  was  so  quickly  abandoned. 
Jefferson  dare  not  permit  the  exposure  these  letters 
would  make,  and  therefore  the  prosecution  was 
dismissed. 

In  the  summer  of  1806  Wilkinson  wrote  to  Burr 
in  cipher,  inquiring  about  his  preparations  for  the 
Mexican  expedition,  assuring  him  that  the  issue  of 
peace  or  war  was  now  in  his  own  hands,  and  declar 
ing  that  he  could  inaugurate  war  at  any  time.  Burr 
wrote  a  reply  in  cipher,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of 
Wilkinson's  letter  and  telling  him  he  had  at  length 
obtained  funds ;  and,  in  referring  to  the  expedition, 
said,  "  everything  favors  our  views."  He  also  said 
he  would  start  west  in  a  few  days.  Wilkinson,  at 
the  time  he  received  this  reply  to  his  letter  to  Burr, 
was  in  correspondence  with  Jefferson,  and  had  agreed 
to  betray  Burr.  He  was  then  looking  for  evidence 
against  him.  It  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  so 
alter  this  letter,  by  eliminating  everything  which 
showed  his  own  connection  with  Burr,  in  the  pro 
posed  enterprise,  and  give  it  the  appearance  of  an 
original  proposition  from  Burr  to  himself,  urging 
him  to  join  Burr  in  the  proposed  conquest  of  Mexico. 
Wilkinson  made  the  changes  necessary  to  exculpate 


A   SUMMARY.  888 

himself,  and  then  made  a  translation  of  the  letter  in 
its  new  form,  and,  swearing  to  the  truth  of  the  trans 
lation,  sent  it  to  Jefferson.  There  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  the  president  knew  or  suspected  either 
Wilkinson's  forgery  or  perjury  in  this  matter.  He 
knew  Wilkinson  was  a  desperate  character,  that  he 
had  long  been  a  stipendiary  of  Spain  and  a  traitor 
to  his  own  country.  He  had  reason  to  believe,  for 
he  had  been  so  informed,  that  Wilkinson  was  engaged 
with  Burr  in  whatever  movements  then  occupied 
Burr's  thoughts,  and  when  he  commended  the  action 
of  the  "  General,  with  the  honor  of  a  soldier  and  the 
fidelity  of  a  good  citizen,"  he  knew  it  was  only  to 
give  credit  to  an  unprincipled  villain. 

Two  days  after  the  receipt  of  this  translation  of 
Burr's  letter,  November  27,  the  president  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  the  existence  of  a  treasonable 
conspiracy  on  the  western  waters.  But  the  presi 
dent  was  not  satisfied  that  the  translation  of  the 
cipher  letter  sent  him  by  Wilkinson  would  of  itself 
sustain  the  charge  of  a  treasonable  purpose,  that 
would  authorize  him  to  make  the  charge  directly 
against  Burr ;  he,  therefore,  did  not  name  him,  but 
left  it  to  be  implied  that  it  meant  Burr,  and  it  was 
so  understood.  Thus  we  find  that  it  was  from  Jan 
uary  to  November  —  nine  months — from  the  time 
Jefferson  was  first  informed  of  Burr's  suspicious 
movements  until  he  obtained  what  he  believed  was 
sufficient  evidence  to  authorize  any  interference  on 


384  A  SUMMARY. 

his  part,  and  not  then  enough  to  justify  him  in 
openly  naming  Burr  as  a  party  to  the  conspiracy. 
But  he  had  said  enough  to  fully  commit  himself,  to 
startle  the  country,  and  to  make  a  public  investiga 
tion,  by  responsible  agents,  a  necessity.  Whatever 
were  the  reports  his  secret  emissarses  had  made  to 
him,  they  were  not  made  public.  He,  therefore,  ap 
pointed  General  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  to 
make  investigation  and  report  upon  the  threatened 
danger  to  the  country  of  Burr's  expedition.  Jack 
son's  report  was  summarized  in  a  message  to  con 
gress,  in  which  the  president  says :  "  Aaron  Burr 
passed  Fort  Massac  on  the  31st  of  December,  with 
about  ten  boats,  navigated  by  about  six  hands  each, 
without  any  military  appearance"  This  is  the  only 
official  evidence  of  the  extent  of  Burr's  "  conspiracy  " 
ever  produced  by  Jefferson  or  any  one  else.  It  con 
sisted  of  ten  boats  loaded  with  agricultural  imple 
ments  and  provisions,  going  to  settle  upon  lands  on 
the  Washita,  in  the  Spanish  province  of  Texas,  and 
numbered  sixty  unarmed  men. 

This  evidence  would  make  the  president's  pro 
ceedings  ridiculous,  and  something  must  be  done  to 
save  him.  The  facts  failing,  clamor  and  excitement 
were  resorted  to  as  the  only  expedient  left  to  deceive 
the  people  and  save  the  credit  of  the  president. 
Rumor  upon  rumor  was  put  in  circulation ;  it  seemed 
that  as  fast  as  one  rumor  was  refuted,  ten  new  and 
more  fearful  ones  were  set  afloat.  Wilkinson's  inven- 


A  SUMMARY.  385 

tion  was  never  so  taxed  as  it  was  to  terrorize  the 
people  at  New  Orleans.  He  had  a  thousand  soldiers 
of  the  regular  army  with  him  at  New  Orleans,  as 
well  as  the  whole  body  of  militia  of  Louisiana  and 
Mississippi,  to  repel  Burr's  sixty  unarmed  men. 
But  he  built  fortifications,  erected  batteries,  and  en 
gaged  the  marines  on  the  shipping  in  port  to  assist 
in  protecting  the  city.  He  declared  martial  law, 
arrested  innocent  persons  and  shipped  them  off  to 
Washington  for  trial.  Never  in  the  history  of  the 
country  was  a  farce  so  overdone  as  that  played  by 
the  commander  of  the  United  States  army  at  New 
Orleans.  But  it  suited  the  taste  of  the  audience;  the 
people  of  not  only  New  Orleans,  but  the  whole 
country,  were  frightened  into  believing  that  Burr 
was  on  his  way  with  sixty  unarmed  men  to  capture 
New  Orleans,  defeat  Wilkinson  and  his  army,  and 
then  triumphantly  proceed  to  conquer  Mexico.  And 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  many  sensible  men  of  this 
day  believe  that  if  a  militia  company  had  not  cap 
tured  Burr  and  his  men,  up  in  Mississippi,  New  Or 
leans  would  have  been  captured,  and  Wilkinson,  per 
haps,  have  perished  in  its  defence. 

Burr  and  his  party  were  arrested  at  Bayou  Pierre, 
in  the  Mississippi  territory,  the  federal  court  was 
convened,  a  grand  jury  called  and  the  witnesses  ex 
amined.  The  return  of  the  grand  jury  was  that 
Burr  had  not  committed  any  unlawful  act  or  con 
templated  any.  On  the  contrary,  the  grand  jury 


386  A  SUMMARY. 

censured  the  authorities  for  their  unlawful  arrest  of 
the  party.  But  law  was  not  regarded  in  this  ruthless 
persecution  of  Burr.  He  was  rearrested  and  carried 
hundreds  of  miles  from  the  scene  of  his  alleged 
crime,  to  be  tried  where  it  was  thought  a  subservient 
jury  could  be  found.  In  the  meantime,  while  still 
unindicted,  untried,  and  unconvicted  of  any  crime, 
by  order  of  the  government  his  entire  property,  all 
he  possessed,  was  confiscated  and  destroyed,  reducing 
him  to  utter  poverty.  Never  was  a  greater  outrage 
committed  upon  the  rights  of  a  citizen,  in  a  country 
where  the  law  was  supposed  to  be  respected,  and 
committed  by  order  of  the  government  pledged  to 
the  protection  of  its  citizens ;  a  government  sworn 
to  see  the  laws  honestly  administered  and  enforced. 
Tyranny  and  oppression  never  went  further  in  the 
worst  days  of  the  Tudors  or  the  Stuart^.  Not  one 
dollar  of  restitution  was  ever  made.  (  This  would  not 
less  have  been  tyranny  and  oppression  if  Burr  had 
even  been  proved  guilty  of  treason,  for  the  law  pre 
sumes  a  man  innocent  until  his  guilt  is  proved.  Burr 
was  never  convicted  of  any  crime. 

There  is  nothing  in  all  history  more  remarkable 
than  the  case  of  Aaron  Burr.  A  soldier  who  had 
given  the  first  four  years  of  his  manhood  to  the  de 
fense  of  his  country  ;  whose  bravery  and  ability  had 
won  not  only  the  plaudits  of  the  people  but  the  praise 
of  all  his  comrades  who  knew  him,  from  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  down  to  the  private  who  fought 


A  SUMMARY.  387 

under  his  command ;  that  this  soldier,  with  the  glory 
of  his  heroic  deeds  still  undimmed,  should  be  pur 
sued,  persecuted,  condemned  as  a  traitor,  without 
any  treasonable  act  having  ever  been  proved  against 
him,  but  solely  upon  the  clamor  and  the  prejudice  of 
the  very  people  for  whom  he  risked  his  life  that  they 
might  be  free  —  is  certainly  a  remarkable  record  for 
any  country  or  for  any  time. 

That  a  man  who  had  risen  by  the  voluntary  suf 
frage  of  the  people  to  almost  the  highest  position  of 
honor  under  the  government,  and  who  throughout 
his  whole  official  life  had  served  the  people,  without 
a  stain  upon  his  character — whose  integrity  had 
been  tested  by  the  greatest  temptation  possible  to  an 
honest  ambition,  and  who  had  put  aside  the  tempter 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,  should  be  condemned, 
without  one  particle  of  proof  against  him,  as  totally 
lacking  in  principle  and  integrity,  and  as  possessing 
an  unholy  and  dangerous  ambition,  is  a  startling  fact 
that  should  arrest  the  attention  of  all  fair-minded 
men.  That  a  man  so  trusting  and  so  unsuspicious 
that  a  conspiracy  was  formed,  in  his  very  presence, 
to  ruin  and  destroy  his  reputation,  and  he  did  not 
suspect  it;  that  a  man  for  years  had  been  calumniated 
and  traduced,  by  a  false  friend,  with  all  manner  of 
vilification  and  falsehood,  and  all  this  time  he,  un 
suspecting,  trusts  him  with  his  friendship  and  his 
confidence,  should  come  to  be  regarded,  without 
cause,  and  mainly  through  this  false  friend's  du- 


388  A  SUMMARY. 

plicity,  as  an  unprincipled  intriguer,  is  certainly  one 
of  the  strangest  cases  in  all  history  —  and  yet  such 
is  the  case  of  Aaron  Burr. 

Yet  all  thisj_was_iiL--great  nrsSsur £  'ttie  fault  of 
Aaron  Burr  himself.  He  possessed  ability,  ambition, 
integrity,  and  all  the  qualities  necessary  to  great 
ness,  but  with  all  these  he  possessed  an  inordinate 
pride,  which,  in  the  era  of  political  calumny  and 
detraction  in  which  he  lived,  made  him  the  easy 
victim  of  the  intriguer,  the  slanderer,  and  the  false 
friend.  He  would  entertain  no  suspicion  of  a  friend, 
and  treated  only  with  contempt  the  slanders  of  an 
enemy.  He  would  never  deny  or  explain  an  accu 
sation  against  himself,  even  when  conclusive  evidence 
of  its  falsity  was  in  his  possession.  During  the  bitter 
political  campaign  of  1804,  in  his  own  state,  when 
the  charge  of  intrigue  with  the  Federalists,  in  1801, 
was  invented  by  Cheatham  and  pressed  against  him, 
it  required  the  utmost  efforts  of  his  friends  to  induce 
him  to  write  a  short  letter  of  denial.  And  after 
wards  when,  with  greater  labor,  he  was  persuaded 
to  institute  a  suit  against  Cheatham  for  libel,  and  had 
the  evidence,  in  great  abundance,  secured  to  sustain 
it,  his  disgust  at  the  proceedings  became  so  strong 
he  abandoned  the  prosecution.  His  friends,  after 
wards,  without  his  consent,  revived  the  case,  and 
fully  and  conclusively  disproved  the  charge  by  the 
evidence  of  the  leading  men  of  both  political  parties. 
There  never  was  even  a  shadow  of  evidence  to  sus- 


A  SUMMARY.  389 

tain  the  charge.  It  was  ajalse  pride  that  thus  led 
him  to  treat  with  "only^silentcon  tempt  the  innumer 
able  assaults  made  upon  his  character,  and  was  the 
cause  of  lasting  injury  to  his  reputation. 

No  man  ever  had  truer  friends;  their  devotion 
was  almost  unlimited,  and  in  return  he  was  true  and 
faithful  to  them.  The  party  he  organized  in  his 
state  in  1800,  was  almost  a  personal  following,  and 
its  members  clung  to  him  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  hiis  life.  Those  who  knew  him  best  were  his 
warmest  and  most  trusting  friends.  His  enemies 
admitted  his  ability  and  fought  him  unfairly,  either 
in  secret  or  through  powerful  combinations.  Had 
he  been  suspicious  and  watchful,  or  had  he  been 
pugnacious,  and  fought  his  enemies  as  they  fought 
him,  with  the  ability  and  vigor  he  possessed,  he 
would  have  defeated  their  efforts,  and  few  names 
would  now  be  found  preserved  in  American  history 
more  honored  than  that  of  AARON  BURR. 


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